Winter Freeze
by Fallen Ark Angel
Summary: As the days get longer and colder, Owen and Annabel approach their one year anniversary. You know, if they make it that far. Follows Comfort.
1. Chapter 1

Winter Freeze

Chapter 1

Would it be weird to know that Owen was only keeping time now by the amount of time it had been since, well, his first time? 'cause he was. To himself at least. It had been three days ago. And now, the Friday before school let out for Thanksgiving break, Owen couldn't help himself from reflecting over what that would mean.

Of course Mallory would be having surgery and his father was coming in. Not to mention it being a holiday, he'd have to see other members of his family. Still, Owen was most excited and nervous about what he and Annabel would be doing when they got a chance to be alone. Or even when they weren't alone. Just together was good enough for him

"-into black metal recently, but only-"

"Hold on." Owen pulled his cell out of his pocket, making Clarissa frown. "Sorry. I've been waiting for this text. It's my dad."

"Is something going on?"

Shaking his head as he read the message, Owen said, "He's coming in Sunday night. He sent me his flight time."

"Oh."

"Yeah." He smiled though when he looked back up at her. "Sorry. I don't normally interrupt people when they're talking."

"That's okay."

"Bella doesn't mind it much when I do, but I hate it when she does it to me."

The two teens both had nothing to do in their current class and both had managed to be sent down to the library. Needless to say, Ms. Martian stared hard at Owen when he asked to go to the library, but she consented, considering he wasn't much of a disruption. Not much of a bookworm though. Not even that intelligent…

"Mmmm." Clarissa looked down at the history book in front of her, sighing.

It had become clear to Owen since Annabel's mention of it that Clarissa did seem to have a crush on him. Whenever he brought up Annabel, she suddenly seemed disinterested. At first, Owen didn't notice this. And even when he eventually did, he just put it off as some kind of girl jealousy thing. The thought that another girl besides Annabel actually liked him was just…wow. And maybe he fed off it somewhat. Just a little. It wasn't his fault though. It was exhilarating. Like playing with fire.

Not to mention, Clarissa wasn't bad looking. She wasn't as hot as Annabel, if he was going to be objective, but she was pretty cute. She wasn't nearly as thin as his girlfriend, but he'd never been into really skinny girls before Annabel. That was probably more due to the fact he knew he could never get one. Until he did. And he was happy with her. Really. He was. Forever.

…But Clarissa was nice too. And though Owen couldn't imagine living without Annabel anymore, he sort of liked Clarissa too. It bothered him at times, but he knew that Annabel had liked Kyle. And James. That's why he wouldn't let her be friends with them. Because Annabel had an issue with temptation. Owen didn't. He could fight it off like nobody's business. And he was always honest. At the first literal thought of conceding to the desire, he'd mention it to Annabel and squelch it. Not that he desired Clarissa or anything…

"So anyways, uh, what were you talking about?" Owen slipped his phone back into his pocket, staring at her openly again.

"I don't really remember," she said, giggling slightly. Owen smiled at that before glancing down at the notes in front of him for his next test. "So anyways, what are you doing for break?"

"Uh, just be around Annabel, I guess. I mean, I already told you my dad's coming down to see my sister. She's got surgery again."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"No, really, it's fine." He shrugged slightly. "And Annabel has her radio shows, so I have to help her with those-"

"Ugh. If I were you, I wouldn't even mention that you have anything to do with those."

He just stared at her. "What do you mean?"

"I just…I've tried to listen to her show. You know, since me and you are friends and everything, but her music choices are just-"

"I know," Owen sighed. "She doesn't think like we do."

"No," Clarissa said, shaking her head. "She doesn't."

"About music I mean," the boy quickly covered. "Me and her get along on so much else."

"Of course."

"She just doesn't understand my tastes sometimes."

"She's not enlightened."

Shaking his head, Owen said, "Not everyone can be."

* * *

"Could you have been later?"

Annabel made a face at Owen as she took her place on the wall next to him. "I had to use the bathroom, thank you."

"Why can't you say you had to pee like normal people?" He smiled at her. "Unless you had to-"

"Owen." That got him a playful shove before Annabel moved to set her backpack on the ground. "Chill."

He just smiled as she handed him her bag of chips. "I tried to text you last period."

"I was taking a test."

"Oh." Scooting closer, he asked, "So what do you wanna do this weekend?"

"Your dad's coming in, right?"

"Yeah, but that's Sunday night. We've got all of Friday and Saturday to worry about."

"What do you wanna do?"

"Go out to eat at some point obviously."

"Obviously."

"Listen to music."

"Mmmhmm."

"And-"

"Ow!" Annabel shied away from him as he tried to wrap his arm around her.

"What?" he asked with a frown.

"You just touched my hip."

"And?"

She took a deep breath before looking up at him. "You kind of…bruised my hips."

"What? From that?"

"No," she said with an eye roll. "When we were…on Tuesday, you, like, gripped them or something too hard."

"When?"

"Owen-"

"I bruised you?"

"Yeah," she said, nodding.

"No way."

"Look." Annabel shifted away from him some before setting her sandwich in her lap and pulling up her shirt very slightly. Intermingled with her pale flesh were two very obvious purple bruises.

"I didn't know." He frowned. "Why didn't you say something?"

"I was a little more concerned with other things at the time, Owen."

"I didn't think…I'm so sorry." He ducked down some, not able look at her now. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know. It's fine."

Clinching his fists, he stared down at his hands for a moment. Slowly, he relaxed them before glancing back down at her. "Is that why we…haven't again?"

She frowned at him. "It's been, like, three days. Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"You're already like…horny again?" She whispered that word, horny, as if it was dirty within itself.

"Not right now, but yeah, I've gotten…horny since then."

"Really?"

"I've been, you know, holding off on, uh, you know."

"What?"

"Like…jerking off or whatever."

"Oh." She was blushing then and couldn't look at him. "Why?"

"So it'll be better. So I'll be better. You know, when we do that again or whatever."

"Why do you think…not doing that would help anything?"

"I dunno."

"If anything, it would hurt what we do. Right?" She looked at him now, her cheeks still rosy. "I mean, if you're, like, withholding or whatever, you'd…blow at your first chance. So wouldn't it be better to do it a lot so you're not so desperate?"

Owen just stared at her for a moment before glancing back out at the lunch tables before them. This had gone somewhere he definitely did not plan for it to. Clearing his throat, he shifted on the wall before pulling his Ipod out.

"So anyways."

Looking back down at her lap, Annabel said, "Maybe we can go see that movie now? Tonight?"

"That'd be cool," he told her, staring intently at his music player now. "I, uh, hung out with Clarissa today."

"Oh really?"

"Mmmhmm."

"Owen-"

"Who am I with, Annabel? You."

"And I'm telling you-"

"Your argument is invalid."

"On what grounds?"

"On the grounds that I don't care what you have to say on the subject."

"You're such an idiot sometimes."

They both sat there silently for awhile, Annabel randomly giving him the food she didn't want. She was always worried about him not eating lunch, but to him, she hardly even ate hers anymore in her attempt to feed him. Still, he was hungry and accepted what she gave him.

"Let me walk you to class," Owen said awkwardly when the bell rang.

"Really, Bear, it's not-"

"I want to." He threw away her trash before rushing back to her. They'd have to hurry if he was going to make it to class on time. "Come on."

She let him sling his arm around her shoulders as they headed back into one of the buildings. "What brought this about?"

"I just like walking you to class," he told her simply as she pulled one earphone out, putting it in her own. "'cause I love-"

"What is that?" She dropped the head phone, the dangling one almost pulling the other out of his own ear. Owen briefly let her go so he could remedy this by putting them both in his own ears again.

"Music."

"That is not music," she said with a face.

"Annabel-"

"I mean, God, they're literally screaming."'

"It's just metal."

"I don't care. I don't like it."

"You didn't give it a chance. You never give things a chance."

"What other things?"

"Well, music is what I meant."

"How can you hear me anyways? Huh? With that in your ear?"

"Same way as always, Bell."

"I would rather you not listen to music when we're talking."

"We've talked about this before. I don't care."

"Owen-"

"I walked you to class so we could be together. Not argue."

"You're going to be late anyways," she told him then, slipping out from under his arm. "Maybe you should just head to-"

"I'm walking you, Annabel. That's what we planned and what we're doing."

"It's like, right down this hall. What difference does it make?"

"It doesn't. I just wanted to do it."

The rest of the short walk took place in silence, Owen tuning back into his music and Annabel just ignoring him. Even when she got to her classroom she said nothing to him. Just headed in there like it was nothing. Honestly. It goes without saying that he was a little ticked when he got to his own class. He made it just before the bell though, so he didn't have to worry about a tardy.

All through class, he kept waiting for Annabel to text him and say sorry for being so mean to him, but she didn't. He thought about texting her, requesting one, but knew that wouldn't go over well either. Still, he didn't like how Annabel thought that she could just tell him what he could do and couldn't do. He liked hanging out with Clarissa. He liked listening to music while talking to her. She wasn't going to stop him.

* * *

"This stuff smells kind of funky."

Annabel rolled her eyes at Owen as he sniffed her different lotion containers. "Come sit over here with me and stop being weird."

He kept looking at the stuff on top of her dresser as he closed the cap on the lotion. "Here's my goggles."

"Yeah."

"You should wear them sometime."

"Where would I wear them to?"

"I dunno." He thought for a moment. "The movie tonight."

"No, Owen."

"How come?"

"People from school might see me."

"And?"

"Bear-"

"I think it'd be cool," he told her. "You know, to wear goggles."

"Then you wear them, stupid."

"Why do you constantly call me names?" Owen grumbled as her bedroom door opened.

"Annabel," her father said, frowning at Owen before looking at her daughter. "We're leaving to pick up your sister from the airport."

"I'll stay, Dad. Owen and I are going to a movie in half an hour." She looked up from her laptop and smiled at him. "We'll make it to dinner tonight though. Whitney said it'll be ready by eight. We'll be there."

"You had better be. Does she know that Owen will be joining us?"

"She does," Annabel told him before going back to her laptop. "She said it was fine. She's just making stew anyways."

Andrew looked again at Owen before leaving the room, making sure to leave the door open. The teen boy just went back to looking at things, more to pass the time than anything else. It wasn't until they both heard her parents leave the house that he went to get into bed with her.

"This is more like it," Owen mumbled as he wrapped an arm around her middle before settling out on the bed. Annabel just sat there, still staring at her computer. "What if we just skip the movie?"

"No," she told him, still typing up her English paper. "I want to see it."

"But Annabel-"

"You're going to sit through the movie with me, buy me popcorn, a soda, Sno-Caps, and hold my hand while we watch it."

"But I don't like Sno-Caps," he whined.

"They're not for you, dinky."

"I don't like when you call me dinky. You know that."

"But I do. And remember, you didn't like Snoogie at first either."

"I'm not totally enthralled with it now."

"Mmmm."

Owen waited for a moment before saying, "My kiss?"

"What?"

"Enthralled. That's a big word. I want my kiss."

"It is not a big word."

"It's a complex word."

"Hardly."

"I want my kiss."

"Fine," she groaned, moving to press her lips against his. It was very brief though as it was then that there was a knock at her open bedroom door. Blushing deeply, Annabel turned to find her sister standing there, frowning.

"Hi, Whitney," Owen greeted as he moved away from his girlfriend slightly.

Nodding at him, she said, "Annabel, can I see you for a moment?"

"I thought that you went with Mom and Dad?"

"Well, I didn't." She nodded towards the hall. "Come here. Now."

Groaning, Annabel got up, leaving Owen behind. He was fine with this though, instead focusing his attention on Annabel's laptop. He quickly got on the internet, the idea of reading her paper boring him before he even did it.

"What are you doing?"

He hardly looked up as Annabel slipped back into bed with him. "You know that band I like?"

"No."

"They'll be in Tyler next week and I was thinking-"

"No."

"-that I would go with Rolly and you."

"No."

"Okay," he said slowly. "Can I still go?"

"I'm not your mother. I don't care."

"…Clarissa likes this band too."

"Oh?"

"Yeah."

"So?"

"Well, if you don't wanna go-"

"No."

"Annabel-"

"Fine, Owen. While you're at the concert though, I just might go hangout with James and Kyle."

"Okay, number one, vengefulness is a very unattractive quality. Also, you couldn't get James and Kyle to hangout with you if you tried."

He got hit in the chest for that.

"You jerk."

"No hitting."

"You know what? You can't go." Annabel crossed her arms. "With or without Clarissa."

"What? You think that you can control me?"

"I know I can."

"Oh, whatever."

"You take Clarissa out on a date-"

"It won't be a date."

"-and I'll breakup with you."

"Oh, Annabel."

"I will." She shifted away from him, out of the bed now. "Taking another girl out on a date means you're cheating. That means you lose me."

"You went out with James and Kyle."

"As friends."

"Ha. Whatever."

"Fine, Owen. Breakup with me. I dare you." She stared into his eyes for a long moment before going over to her closet and pulling out a jacket. "Come on then. We don't want to be late for the movie."

"Annabel-"

"Unless you're about to tell me you're calling my bluff, shut up. Now come on."

She headed out of the room, not even waiting for him. That might have been what pissed Owen off the most. That after acting the way she had over nothing, she thought that she could just walk away. From him of all people. Like she could just talk about breaking up as if it were nothing and then just walk off. The conversation was enough to tick him off, but add that into the mix and it was near impossible for him to not get upset with her.

"Don't just fucking walk away from me, Annabel." He rushed up to follow her, not even logging off her laptop first. "This is-"

"I'm going to see that movie I've been waiting to see, Owen. You can come, if you'd like." Annabel was to the bottom of the stairs now, quickly slipping on her shoes when she got to them. "You can come with me. Or you can go home. I honestly don't care right now."

"What did I do, Annabel? Make a friend other than you? Aren't you always the one telling me that we're going to have friends of the opposite sex?"

"We are. But the second that friend forms an attraction to you, you should break it up in respect to the person you're with."

"I am not attracted to Clarissa," he told her as he finally made it to the base of the staircase, Annabel turning her eyes to watch his. "And Clarissa isn't…"

"You can't lie to me, Owen," she told him, holding his gaze. "You know that you can't."

"Kyle likes you."

"And I don't hang around him anymore. Do I?"

"That's not…I like being with Clarissa."

"You liked being with me, too, back when we were just friends."

"But Annabel-"

"I don't want you hanging out with her. That's it. If you choose to, fine. You're not a dog. You have freewill. I can't stop you. I don't own you." She shook her head. "But it works both ways, Owen. If I don't want to be with you because of it-"

"I'm not going to stop being friends with her. You shouldn't be so jealous."

"Are you serious right now?"

"I am serious right now."

"You can't be hanging out with some other girl, Owen."

"Actors like freaking make out with other people and the person they're in a relationship with doesn't care."

"Yeah, well, actors are bringing home money. You're not."

Scowling, he retorted with, "Delivering pizzas brings home way more money than you doing nothing does."

"I think the two of you are forgetting that there is no home to bring your money home to."

Owen just continued to frown as Whitney came into the hall as well. "You think it's crap, right? That Annabel says I can't be friends with a girl?"

"I don't think it's 'crap', no," the older woman said, using air quotes which only made Annabel roll her eyes. "I do though think it's a tad insecure."

"I'm insecure? When he won't let me even go out to a party if he's not there?"

"I'm protecting you."

"From what?"

"I don't know. Take a wild guess."

"Okay, okay, knock it off." Whitney sighed, shaking her head at the two of them. "What is it you want to do, Owen, that she won't let you?"

"Go to a concert with Rolly and-"

"And a girl that's totally into him. Like into him enough to murder me in my sleep."

"Stop being so dramatic," Owen said, frowning at her before looking back at Whitney. "Clarissa and I are friends. We both like the same music. Annabel was offered a chance to go. She turned me down before even learning what band it was. Clarissa and I get along in ways that Annabel and I don't. Why is that a bad thing?"

"It's not," Whitney told him. "Annabel? Your turn."

"I don't want my boyfriend hanging around a girl that he obviously likes."

"You mean one that obviously likes me," Owen corrected.

"No, Owen, I don't."

"Annabel-"

"Deny it, Owen. Break your little honesty spiel. I don't care. I know though-"

"Why are you acting like this?"

"I'm not acting like anything."

"You are though. You're acting jealous." He came closer to her, watching her eyes now. "I'll never cheat on you. I love you."

"Owen-"

"Is this about the sex thing?"

"What sex thing?" Whitney asked, frowning finally. "Annabel?"

"Noth-"

"We had sex. And since then Annabel's been-"

"You what?"

Owen blinked. Then, glancing at his girlfriend's sister, he said, "I think I was pretty clear."

"Annabel, why didn't you say anything?" Whitney came closer to her sister now, no longer annoyed, but rather concerned. "God, we were even together yesterday, when we went shopping. You-"

"You went shopping? You told me you had something important to do," Owen said, frowning.

"I did. Shopping."

"How was shopping more important than coming over to hangout with Rolly and me?"

"You guys were playing videogames. I don't-"

"Would you two shut up?" Whitney huffed slightly. "When were you planning on telling me, Annabel, that you had sex?"

She shrugged slightly. "You didn't tell me when you first had sex?"

"You were a kid. Different."

"No."

"Fine. Freshman year. Happy?"

Annabel glanced at Owen, but he was still glaring at her, obviously upset.

"No," she finally said, kicking at the ground. "I just…It's embarrassing, Whitney."

"You're the one who did it."

"…Should I go wait in the car?" Owen glanced between the sisters. "'cause-"

"Shut up, Owen," Whitney said, hardly looking at him. "Where did you do this, Annabel? When?"

"At his house. Tuesday."

"And…?"

"And what?"

"I don't know. I just want to know about it is all."

"Like what?"

"How was-"

"Yeah, I'll be in the Land Cruiser." Owen walked around them then, slipping on his boots as he passed them. "Hurry, Annabel, if we're going to make this damn movie."

He was finally able to calm down then, when he made it out to his car with the stereo blasting. How could Annabel think that he would ever cheat on her? Much less think that she was going to tell him what he was going to do and what he wasn't. If he wanted to hang around Clarissa, he was. She wasn't going to threaten him with breakups or whatever.

…Although, if it did come down to that, Owen knew he'd cave. Still, he was sure that Annabel would cave before him. 'cause he was the guy. The stronger sex. She couldn't live without him. At least not in a fully functioning way. …Then again, Owen would slit his own throat to prove his commitment to her, so maybe he had this whole ting backwards.

"Thanks a lot, Owen."

He didn't even look at Annabel as she climbed into the car. "Shhh. I like this song."

"Oh, be quiet." She turned his stereo down without a thought. That in itself about got her killed. Seriously, she was lucky that his survival was based in hers. No joke.

"I didn't even do anything, Annabel," he complained as she pulled the seatbelt across herself. When he moved to hit it with the little hammer though, she took it from him, doing it herself. "Hey-"

"See?" She gave the belt a little tug. It held. "Works."

"I don't-"

"Just drive, Owen," she told him, dropping the tool in the side pocket of her door. "I want to go to this movie. We can fight later."

"I don't wanna fight. I-"

"You told my sister that we had sex."

"…Should it be a secret?"

"Shut up and drive."

"No. I-"

"Then I'll drive myself. You can sit in your stupid car and-"

"Stop." He laid a hand on her thigh, sighing. "Stop."

She paused for a moment before laying a hand over his. "I'm not fighting to be mean, Owen."

"I know."

"Go out with Clarissa if you want. I-"

"I'm not going to do anything."

"That's not the point. What if someone see you both together and-"

"I don't care what other people think and neither should you."

"She likes you."

"Every guy that looks at you likes you."

"Bull, Owen. I'm not even that hot."

"You're hot to me," he told her. "Very hot. Extremely hot. I would only assume that other guys found you the same."

"My boobs are small, I hardly ever wear makeup, my eyes are too close together-"

"Are you serious right now?"

"Well, Owen, they are. Not to mention I've gained a pound-"

"Ooh, a pound."

"Stop it."

"No. You're being ridiculous. This whole fight is ridiculous." He shook his head. "How did we going from you not wanting to go to a concert to you not liking me hanging around a girl to talking about how embarrassing having sex with me is to you demeaning yourself?"

"…Sex with you isn't embarrassing. Just awkward."

Blinking, Owen shook his head before moving to start the car. "Let's just go to the freaking movie, Annabel and go from there, huh?"

"Fine," she said, pulling the visor down to look at herself in the mirror. "Fine."

It was a silent ride to the movie theater. And even when they got there, they didn't speak, not really. Owen bought the tickets, drinks, and popcorn like usual. He purposely left out the candy Annabel had requested before in her bedroom, hoping that would cause her to speak to him to remind him. She didn't though. Huh.

When they got into the theater and sat down, they found that the previews were just starting. Annabel took her seat, immediately pulling out her cell phone. Owen sat next to her for a moment before handing her the popcorn and standing. She looked to him, but he didn't want to be the one to break their silence. Standing, he just walked away, figuring she'd just think he was headed to the bathroom. Instead, Owen headed back to the concession stand and waited in line to get those damn Sno-Caps. 'cause ultimately, he was a sucker.

Owen was ready to apologize the whole way back to the screen room. He really was. However, he was quickly brought back down as he approached the seat he had left Annabel in. She was still there of course. Only, his chair was now occupied.

"Hi."

"Get up."

James blinked before glancing at Annabel. "He's not much of a people person is-"

"Up," Owen repeated. "Now."

"Owen-"

"Shut up, Annabel. And move, Barrs, before I move you."

The person on the other side of Annabel started cackling, making Owen glance at them. Then he found out who it was.

"What are you doing, here, Rolly? With…him?"

"We're both taking comfort in each other," Rolly said as James stood up, letting Owen have his seat back.

"I really hope you don't mean that how it sounds."

James made a face as he took the empty seat on the other side of Rolly. The movie had been out for some time now and the theater was mostly empty.

"Clarke broke both our hearts," James told him. "So we're hanging out together now."

"Great," Owen said dryly, handing Annabel her candy. Traitor. Then again, his faith in Rolly was never extremely high. "Where are you other stupid friends, Barrs?"

"Kyle? He and Nate are here. In the arcade. They'll be here shortly."

Double great. Owen sunk down in his chair, shaking his head. He just couldn't win anymore.

"Thank you for the candy, Be- Owen," Annabel said, catching herself before announcing his nickname to the other teen boys. That would not have gone over well, she was sure.

He didn't respond though, staring straight ahead at the screen even though the preview was for some dumb movie that he didn't give a damn about. He really just wanted to go home then. He was pretty sure that he could just tell Annabel that he was leaving and she could get a ride home with her new friends. She'd probably like that better anyways. James, Kyle. Nate too. He was hot. Or so Owen figured. And since Rolly was such a traitor, he'd probably have his turn too. 'cause apparently being with Owen was embarrassing. He was ugly and he had no friends and no one liked him and he could just slit his own throat and no one would care because he was just a big idiot to think that anyone-

Annabel reached over, entwining their fingers before leaning against him. Owen just sat there, trying to hide how upset he was getting over a scenario he made up in his own mind. Counting to ten under his breath, he shifted in his seat, trying to get comfortable.

"They sat with me, Bear," she whispered to him then. "I figured since it was Rolly it didn't matter."

Owen just let out a long breath before saying, "It doesn't."

"Good." Annabel handed him the popcorn back as she sat back up. She said something to Rolly, but kept her hand in her boyfriends. Owen just sat through the previews silently, not even opening his mouth when Kyle and Nate returned. Because if he had Annabel, he'd already won. What more was there?

* * *

"You got fat."

"Shut up, Annabel."

Owen just watched her greet her oldest sister, feeling no better about himself than he had early in the night. The movie had sucked, Rolly had left with his new friends, and though she seemed to have forgiven him, Annabel was still being rather cold to him. Owen really just wanted to go home.

They were standing in the Greens' living room, Andrew and Grace both on the couch, although they were sitting with a considerable distance between them. This didn't shock Owen, as neither of them seemed to like the other one recently. It's been months since that whole cheating revelation though, so he really didn't get the problem now.

"Hi, Brian," Annabel greeted the man then, who was seated in the chair, facing the television. Owen could tell by his position that he was feeling uncomfortable. Then again, he had knocked up Andrew's daughter. It was to be expected now.

"Hello," he said, nodding at Owen also. Owen just headed into the kitchen with Annabel as she walked off, Kristen tagging along. He really didn't want to be in a room with the three sisters, but he wanted even less to be with the people in the living room at the moment.

"Mmm, Kristen, did Annabel tell you?" Whitney asked, stirring a pot of something. Owen was pretty sure he'd heard it was stew earlier, but wasn't sure. He just took a seat at the kitchen table, sighing slightly.

"Tell me what?"

"Lucas, Whitney," Annabel warned.

"Your little sleepover, Annabel," the woman shot back.

"What are you guys talking about?" Kirsten asked, frowning at her younger sisters.

"Nothing," they both said, glaring at one another.

Owen sighed loudly causing his girlfriend to look at him.

"I think I'm going, Annabel."

"What?"

"I'm not… I don't want be here," he told her, shrugging slightly. Kristen frowned at him, but he ignored her. The two of them had never really gotten along.

"Owen-"

"I just need to get out of here," he told her, standing. "I'll call you tonight."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he told her. And that was true. There was nothing wrong. He just didn't want to be around her and her family at the moment. Was that a crime? Annabel hardly ever spent any time with his. "Look, I'll call you later, alright?"

"Is this about Clarissa? Or James? Something?"

"Bell, I'm not hungry. At all. And I have a headache. I'm going to bed when I get home."

"It's not even nine yet, Owen."

Going over to her, Owen pressed a kiss against her head, not caring that her sisters were present as he brought a hand up to cup her cheek. "Believe me, it's better if I'm not here. Your dad looks beyond pissed. I don't feel like making him angry at me too. And we spent the whole day together. And you call me tonight before you go to bed, okay? Even if I'm asleep, I'll answer. I love you."

She blushed deeply at this as Kristen snorted. Whitney, having heard it all before just rolled her eyes. Not that Owen cared. About either of them. Only his girlfriend. She was the only one that mattered.

"I love you too," she whispered, her blush not fading. "Bye, I guess."

He kissed her one more time before heading out. He had to go through the living room again, but no one spoke to him. Not even Annabel's mother. She must have been in a down mood too. He felt that. He really did.

* * *

"What's wrong with you?"

"All my friends are traitors."

"Well, you only have one friend and that's Rolly, so I'll assume that you phrased it that way to be dramatic."

"Mom-"

"Come here," she sighed, waving him over. Owen had just walked through the door, looking ragged. Apparently his mother could tell all the way from the couch that he hadn't had the best of days. "What's wrong?"

Owen took his place next to her, sighing. "Rolly picked Barrs over me."

"Are you telling me that Rolly's an alcoholic or-"

"Barrs, Mom. Not bars. James Barrs. That guy that Annabel tutors."

"Uh-huh," she said slowly. "And how did he do this?"

"By being with him at the movie theater."

"After turning you down or-"

"No. I was there with Annabel and they were there together."

"I'm not following, Owen," she said, taking a sip of her water before glancing back at the television.

"When Annabel thought we were broken up, she started flirting with this Kyle guy who's friends with Barrs who I didn't like to begin with 'cause, Mom, he, like, has a record-"

"I'm a hundred percent certain you fall into that category too, honey."

Frowning at her, he said, 'Yeah, I know, but I'm different."

"Uh-huh."

"I am."

"To who?"

"…The point was, Rolly knew that I didn't like Barrs and he still hung out with him."

"Shouldn't Rolly be able to make his own decisions?"

"Yeah, but…you just don't get it," he sighed finally, hanging his head.

"Is that all that's bothering you, sweetheart?" Teresa laid a hand on his arm. "Rolly's supposed betrayal?"

"No," Owen said slowly, closing his eyes. "Annabel doesn't want me to hangout with Clarissa anymore."

"Who?"

"She listens to my show. We both like the same music and stuff. But Annabel thinks that she likes me, so she says I can't hangout with her anymore."

"Does she like you?"

"I guess, I don't know."

"Then aren't you playing with fire?"

"No," he said, shooting his mother a dirty look as his eyes snapped open. "I don't like her."

"You're eighteen, Owen."

"So?"

His mother sighed loudly, stroking his arm now. Finally finding the words, she asked, "Isn't this the same problem you have with Rolly?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're mad at Rolly for hanging out with someone you don't like."

"Right."

"And you're also upset that Annabel doesn't want you to hangout with this girl because she doesn't like her."

"Well, yeah, but-"

"So see, Owen? You're straddling the fence. If Annabel can't tell you what to do, then you can't tell Rolly what to do?"

"Then which situation an I right in? Which am I right?"

"I can't tell you that, Owen, because these are emotions. Do you love Annabel?"

"Yes," he said, offended she would ask him such a stupid question.

"Do you love Rolly?"

"Mom-"

"So yes," she concluded. "And you don't want to lose either of them."

"Of course not."

"So what you have to do is weigh your options. Is your anger with Rolly too great to get over? Because I don't think so."

"No," he sighed. "It's not."

"Is your relationship with Annabel more important than your one with Clarissa? Because honestly, Owen, I think that it's not. You're young. If you and Annabel are going to fight on this, you're going to have a long battle ahead of you. I don't understand why you can't accept that. If you would just end this with Annabel and try things with Clarissa, then what would be wrong with that? If you didn't like it and wanted to go back, you could. If you and this Clarissa girl get along so well perhaps-"

"Why do you hate Annabel?"

"I do not hate Annabel," she told him, his accusation taking her aback. "I love her."

"No, you don't. You're always trying to get me to breakup with her."

"I'm trying to get you to explore your options, Owen. The world is a vast place. You thinking that you're honestly tied to one person so young is baffling to me. Truly."

"You just hate her. Admit it."

"I do not, Owen Armstrong. I think that she's done wonders for your anger and lack of self-worth."

"I have self-"

"And I think that she's been very good to your sister. Very good. However, I think that it's best to cut ties now. She's leaving, I'm sure, for college soon. It's going to creep up on you, you know. Why hold off the inevitable?"

"Annabel and I are not ever going to break up."

"And this is why all our conversations end the same, Owen. You just can't get it through your head that nothing lasts forever in this world."

"And you just can't get it through your head that I love her and I'm not going to stop loving her just because you don't like her." With that, he stood up and headed out of the room. "Well tough. 'cause I do."

"You're being childish again, Owen."

Ignoring her, he headed to his bedroom, almost slamming the door behind him. He remembered his sister though and held off. No matter how upset he was, he didn't want to disturb her. Still, he did go over to his stereo and turn it on before stripping down and getting into bed. What a horrible day. He had a rotten friend, a rotten mother, and a rotten relationship. Annabel wasn't rotten though. No, she was still pure. Confused as to her place in things currently, but pure nonetheless.

Still, he had a sinking feeling that he wouldn't be able to tell her that. She'd probably take it the completely wrong way. He was almost certain she would.

And promptly at 12:02, his cell rang, awakening him from his slumber. Groggily, Owen reached over his bed, fumbling around for his jeans before getting it out of the pocket.

"'llo?" he mumbled, not opening his eyes.

"Well, you were right. Predicted it perfectly."

"Mmmm."

"Dad and Kristen got into a huge fight. Mom let her and Brian stay in the house though. At first he tried to kick them out, but she wouldn't let him."

"Mmmm."

"So you were really asleep?"

"Mmmm."

"Sorry. I love you, Bear."

That made him smile drowsily, mumbling something unintelligible, but close to those words back to her.

"Even if you did walk out on me tonight. I forgive you, Snoogie."

"Bella," he whispered, still not opening his eyes.

"And I know that you work tomorrow, but with everyone over, I'm sure I can get someone to order some pizza. From you, of course."

"Course."

"Goodnight, Bear. I love you."

And just like that, everything was right again. Funny how that works out sometimes.


	2. Chapter 2

Winter Freeze

Chapter 2

"What will the kid call you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Kirsten's baby," Owen explained. "Will it call you Aunt Annabel? Or just Annabel?"

"I dunno."

"I mean, you're so young, I figure it'll just call you Annabel. Like how I just call Cam by her name."

"Don't talk about your aunt right now. Please."

Smiling, Owen stroked his girlfriend's hair as she rested her head in his lap. They were currently over at her house, watching TV and enjoying them being home alone. Mrs. Greene had gone out shopping with Whitney and Kirsten, Brian tagging along while Andrew went to work. Not soon after the house emptied out, Owen made his way over, ready to spend Sunday with his girlfriend after a successful radio show that morning. Of course, he assumed all his shows successful, so that wasn't shocking.

"How bad was the fight Friday night? After I left?"

"Bad," Annabel told him as she stared at the television. "Then Mom and Dad got into it too. All over Brian. I mean, Kirsten's not a kid. She's an adult. If she wants to marry him, that's her deal."

"But she wants your dad to pay for the wedding," Owen pointed out.

"That's just what dads do, Owen."

"That's dumb."

"Father of the bride means you pay."

"I'm not paying for my daughter's wedding. Screw that. If she wants to get married, then she had better have the cash. If not, there's always a courthouse wedding."

"Owen."

"Maybe, if I have the cash, I'll help her some. Not give her some glamorous wedding, but a simple one. 'cause I'll love her or whatever."

"So no alluring gown?"

"No."

"And no stunning doves to set free when the vows end?"

"Can people really do that?"

"Yes."

"Well, no," he told me. "There wouldn't be any doves."

"No little fingerfood sandwiches?"

"She can have pizza rolls. If I still like those, I mean. Or those mini hotdogs."

"Beanie weenies?"

"No. The little ones that you cook in barbeque sauce. And then real fancy people stab them. With toothpicks. Multicolored ones if she wants. Blue, red, green. Those cool toothpicks. You know."

"So we're going to be fancy then?"

"We? I said my daughter."

"Bear."

"I'm kidding." He leaned down to kiss the top of my head. "I'm only having sons."

"You can't control that."

"I pray for only sons."

"Owen-"

"I've seen what you've done to you and your sisters did to your parents. No thanks."

"You're so full of it." She sighed as she shifted in his lap. "So are you going to Kirsten's wedding with me?"

"Of course."

"It'll be in New York," she warned. "Will your mom let you go?"

"The more important question is how I'll get down there."

"A plane, genius."

"I don't have money like that, genius."

"Dad will pay for your ticket."

"What? N-"

"Sure. And your hotel room. I already asked. He said fine. Then he said that if we weren't together then, he'd pay for my next, better boyfriend."

They both stared at each other for a moment before Annabel started giggling, laying her head back down in his lap.

"I told him that I'm never getting another boyfriend, so he could get over it."

"You don't really think that I want my girlfriend's father paying for me to go to New York do you?"

"Yes. Why wouldn't you?"

"Annabel-"

"Then do you not want to go?"

"No, I do."

"Then what's the problem?"

"Just…"

"What if you pay him back, Bear? Eventually. Would that be better?"

"Bella-"

"Huh?" She pushed up then, moving to kiss him on the lips. "Bear?"

"I want to go, Annabel. I just don't like the thought of owing that guy."

"That guy's my father," she reminded him before giving him another kiss.

"And I'm your boyfriend."

"I know that. So learn to get along, huh?"

"I'll try," he told her, reaching up to cup the back of her neck. Giggling, Annabel shifted on the couch, moving to lay down. Owen allowed himself to smile as he moved to get over her, overly excited just from the thought. Five days now. It had been five days…

"We can't here, Bear," she whispered after their making out turned into Owen trying to unzip her jeans. "We have to go upstairs."

"I know," he mumbled, kissing her neck gently. "I love you."

"Come on. Let's go upstairs."

"Of course."

"First though," Annabel began as they both got off the couch, "it has been freaking forever since I had a beer."

"You know we can't have any of your parents alcohol, Bell," he said, following her into the kitchen. "You've said it before. Your dad rarely drinks. He always knows how many should be in the fridge."

"That was before Brian and Kirsten started staying with us. Now that they're here, he'll just think one of them drank it."

"And what happens if he confronts them? I mean, one of them is pregnant," Owen pointed out as she went over to the fridge.

"Two beers when there's another male in the house is nothing." Annabel snagged two Budweisers from the fridge before turning to look at him. "It'd be easier if he just bought can. It'd be harder for him to keep track with them."

"How so?"

"It just would, okay?" Handing off one of the bottles, she immediately headed upstairs. "Come on."

"I like Coors," he told her as he followed.

"Yeah, you're gonna have to never mention that in this house. Ever. 'kay?"

"Why?" he asked, bemused.

"Shiner and Bud are the only acceptable beers. Or so Dad says. He and Brian argued that once when Brian asked him if he had any Samuel Adams."

"Bleh. Rolly's dad drinks that. I've had a few."

Annabel just continued into her bedroom. "Hurry, Bear."

The second they made it to her bedroom, Owen went to work messing with her stereo while Annabel settled on her bed, watching him. While he was choosing the music, she sat there, sipping her beer while thinking.

"How long will your dad be in?" she asked.

"Till the Friday after Thanksgiving."

"So you're not eating with my family anymore?"

He hesitated before saying, "I figured we could do both. Show up here for awhile, be with my family for awhile."

"Will your sister be well enough to do anything?"

"I dunno. I think she might stay in the hospital. Not sure." He shook his head as he finally chose a CD. "I don't want to think about that right now."

"Then come over here." She sat her beer on her bedside table. "Bear."

He opened his own beer before taking a long swig. Then, setting it next to hers, he immediately got into bed, smiling as she kicked down the covers.

"Do you have anything on you?"

"Yeah. I figured today we'd…but yeah." He kissed her as she shifted on her bed, lying on her back now. "In my wallet."

"Mmmm."

"I love you, Bella. So much." He could taste the alcohol on her lips, on her tongue, in her mouth. He wanted more of it. So much more. "You're mine."

"I am," she agreed as he rubbed his hips against her, loving the friction. "God, I love this song."

He smiled against her flesh, glancing over at the stereo before putting his face back into her neck. "You're so silly."

"I want to get drunk." She shifted away from him, reaching out to pick up one of their beers; neither could remember where they sat theirs. "Really badly. We haven't gotten drunk in awhile."

"Mmmhmm." He just moved to undo his jeans and kick them off. Then he quickly pulled what he needed from them before tossing them to the side. "Today's not a good day for that though, Annabel. Your parents will be home soon."

"Not too soon."

"Not too soon for this," he told her as she took a long drink from the bottle. "But too soon for that. You know it."

"I know."

"Sometime this week though, Bell, I'll…" Sighing, he kissed her neck again. "We'll go to a party or something. Get wasted. 'kay?"

She just kissed him again after setting her drink aside. When she pulled back, she smiled at him. "I love you, Bear."

"Do you think this time will be better? For you?" He was searching her eyes, a frown on his face. "Will you bleed?"

"I don't think so, no."

Nodding, he moved to get her jeans off as well. When he pulled them down though, he just found the marks he had left on her hips from before and frowned. Owen leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to each bruise before looking back up at his girlfriend.

"I'm sorry, Bell."

"It was an accident."

"I won't do it again. Swear."

"Owen," she sighed, moving to run her fingers through his hair. He needed to get it cut again; it was starting to get long once more. "It's okay. We're okay."

"I don't like to hurt you."

"And you won't," she said, moving then to pull her shirt over her head figuring this would be the best way to get him going again. His eyes immediately fell on her breasts of course, but then they landed on the two rings hanging in between them, suspended on a chain.

"I really wish you'd wear them again," he mumbled then, moving to finish pulling her jeans off.

"Huh?"

"The rings." He slipped his own shirt off before moving to grasp the two rings, just holding them in his palm for a moment. "You hardly ever even wear your class ring or any other ring. How come you can't just wear one of these sometimes?"

"I will," she told him then, staring into his eyes. "If you want."

"I do," he told her before pausing. "I mean, if you want to."

Giggling, she pulled him back into a kiss, smiling into it as he fit himself between her legs. Some things would still take getting used to. Others she felt were as natural as could be.

* * *

Owen liked waking up in Annabel's bed more than he liked his own. He knew that she too favored sleeping in his bedroom. It was for completely different reasons of course. Annabel liked his room because she felt safer there, snuggled up in his bed with him lying there next to her. Like no one could hurt her. And they couldn't.

His reasons were all his own, however. At home, Owen's bed had a sheet of course, but not the way Annabel's did. She had a literal set of sheets on her bed, with a comforter and everything. Owen just had that stretch one over the mattress and then random blankets. He always liked to think he was better off, as he didn't have to make his bed every morning as she did, but still, it was nice to sleep in hers. The sheets were always cool, but warm in a kind of way. Not to mention the whole room smelled of…girl. Annabel. Her different scents. Like her dresser smelled of the perfumes that she kept up there, her sheets smelled like the fabric softener she used in her laundry, her pillows of her conditioner and shampoo. The whole room just smelled like her in general. Owen liked her in general.

The best part though, by far, was how relaxed Annabel was when they woke up. She always seemed more at ease in her own home. This wasn't shocking, of course, as most people were more comfortable in their own element. Still, Owen liked how much more playful she was.

"We have to get up soon, Bear," she whispered to him as he opened his eyes. "They'll be home soon. All of them."

"Bella." He shut his eyes again. "You smell like beer."

"I had the rest of yours and mine."

"Mmmm."

"I'll go brush my teeth soon. Eat a mint."

"Shower."

"You're cute." She poked his chest. "Snoogie."

Owen just laid there when she got out of the bed, watching as she slowly got dressed before leaving the room. After she was gone, he yawned and stretched, shaking his head slightly.

She hadn't bled again, She hadn't finished either. Still, she had told him that it was better that time, that he was better that time, and he had no choice but to believe her. He liked it anyways, for what it was worth. And he knew, too, that she was just getting adjusted to him. Pretty soon, she'd like it just as much as him.

"Come on. I was serious. Get up."

Owen groaned as Annabel reentered the room, rolling on his side to watch her. She had brushed her hair and her teeth. Not to mention she did smell better, less like alcohol. Also, she had both his rings back on her fingers, in their proper place.

"I am, I am," he mumbled as he pushed out of the bed in all his glory. Annabel just went to makeup her bed once more, hardly watching as he got dressed once more.

"Today, you're going to actually eat with us, huh? For dinner?"

"Dinner," Owen mumbled hungrily. "Can we eat now? Something?"

"Sure," she said, going to turn off her stereo before moving to get the beer bottles, no doubt to throw them away. "You can make us both sandwiches. 'cause you're my bitch."

"Right. Because if I said that, I wouldn't have gotten in trouble at all."

When they got to the kitchen, Annabel sat on the counter, watching while her boyfriend made their food. He did it without another complaint, as he typically was the one to make their food.

"Do you know what's for dinner tonight anyways?" Owen asked. "Or when it is? Because I have to pick up Dad from the airport."

"Ugh. I forgot about that."

"Don't ugh my father."

"You know what I meant." She sighed impatiently. "I'm hungry, Bear. Hurry up. And I want chips too. And get me a coke."

"I don't like being bossed around."

"I'm just telling you what I'd like. You don't have to give those things to me."

"But I do," he told her, shaking his head. "Because I love you. That's what you do when you love someone. Give them everything you can. And I can give you all those things. So I will."

"My hero."

"Don't mock. You know you love it."

"I know I love you."

"I love you more."

"Probably."

"Bella-"

"Honesty is always the best policy, huh? Mr. Honesty?"

He just smiled. "You're funny, you know that?"

"Let's eat in the living room," she told him, jumping off the counter. "Okay?"

"Fine by me."

That's where they were when Annabel's sisters and mother showed back up, eating their sandwiches. Brian was with them and he immediately sat down on the couch next to the two teens, putting Annabel between him and her boyfriend.

"Take it from me, Owen, you never want to go on a shopping trip with three women. Ever," the man said as his future wife left the room with her mother. Whitney just took a seat in the chair, sighing.

"So what did the two of you do today? All alone?" She was staring right at Annabel, but her younger sister wouldn't give her the satisfaction of blushing.

"Nothing, really," Annabel said, as if disinterested. "Just hung out. How was shopping?"

"It was shopping," she told her. "How was hanging out?"

"Boring," Annabel said before popping the tab on her soda. "Very boring."

"Same."

"Hmmm."

Owen just turned the television up slightly, annoyed that they were speaking so much when he was watching TV. Annabel moved to lean against his arm, sighing slightly.

"What time do you think Dad'll be home?" Annabel asked her sister. "Or better yet, when's dinner?"

"I dunno. Mom said she was making it, whatever it is."

"Great," she muttered. "Bet it'll be delicious."

Owen elbowed his girlfriend gently, but she just laughed slightly. He really wanted them all to leave so they could go back to making out or flirting. Something. But just being with her was nice too. It really was.

* * *

"So where's this girlfriend of yours?"

"With her family," Owen said as he and his father drove down the road in the Land Cruiser, just coming from the airport.

"Oh. I hope I get to see her on this trip."

"I'm sure you will."

"Perhaps tonight…? I haven't eat dinner yet and-"

"We ate already. Annabel and I. With her family. Before I came to get you."

"That's probably for the best," his dad said then. "I should probably go straight to your sister."

"She wants to see you," Owen agreed.

"And you don't?"

Owen shrugged. "She goes in early tomorrow morning. Be in the hospital for a few days. I think she'd just want to rest."

"I was asking about you, Owen."

"I don't care what we do."

"You don't care much about anything, do you?"

"I care about music, Mallory, and Annabel."

"Of course." His father shifted in his chair, shaking his head. "Owen, your mother told me that you have yet to take your ACT or SAT."

"I haven't."

"Well, time is running short, son, so-"

"I haven't, Dad, because I don't need to."

"To get into college it's necessary. And after seeing your GPA and rank, you will need very high scores on one of them."

"I'm not going to-"

"Don't you say it. Because-"

"I'm not. I'm staying here. Working."

"Owen-"

"What do you care anyways?" He wanted to blast his stereo then, but knew he would only get in trouble for it. True, he was an adult now, but he was still his father's son. That trumped your age every time.

"Try that you're my son? Damn it, Owen, what is it that makes you think that I don't want you to go to college? That I don't want you to be something?"

"What would college give me? Huh? A degree? Just like everyone else? Debt? More debt that any of us could ever hope to pay off? 'cause I ain't getting no scholarships, Dad. And Mallory's not getting any better. I can't leave-"

"There's a community college near here, I'm sure."

"And so what if there is? Huh? So what? It don't mean anything. I don't want to go to college. Why isn't it my decision?"

"You're right, Owen. It's your decision to be a bum that lives with his mother for the rest of his life. Who do you thinks going to take care of you? Her, right?"

"I don't need her to take care of me. I work-"

"You deliver pizzas, boy. You don't work."

"Oh suddenly that's not working?"

"That's not a real job. What are you going to do, Owen? Live out of a shack?"

"Annabel-"

"Annabel what?" His father shook his head at him. "Annabel's going to leave you the second she gets to college, boy, if not sooner."

"Shut up."

"If not just cheat on you until-"

"I said to shut up!"

"Don't you yell at me, Owen."

"And don't you talk bad about my girlfriend."

"Your girlfriend. Right, Owen. For how long exactly do you think Annabel will stay with a guy like you?"

He flushed as he came to a red light. "A guy like me."

"A guy that's going nowhere. That has no fut-"

"No. Admit it."

"Admit what?"

"You really meant that a guy that looked like me couldn't get a girlfriend like Annabel."

"I-"

"Just admit it."

"Owen…" His father shook his head, sighing. "Your mother told me, you know."

"Told you what?"

"About your little plan to marry Annabel."

"Dad-"

"What did you think, Owen? That I would just welcome the two of you with open arms when you got to Arizona? And how were you even getting there?"

"It doesn't matter," he told him as the light turned green and he began to drive again. "She said no."

"And thank God she did. What would you have done if she had said yes?"

"Obviously marry her."

"Obviously," his father said dryly. "You know, Owen, I'm starting to see it."

"See what?"

"What your mother is always talking about. You're not right in the head. No way you can be."

"Why can't you just leave me alone? Huh? And what kind of father-"

"I'm not trying to be mean to you, son. I just don't want you to think that this is okay. This impulsive-"

"One girl. I've only ever been with one girl. I hardly ever drink. I've never done drugs. I haven't gotten in a fight in nearly a year now. I'm not a perfect guy, alright, fine. But I am a lot better than what you could have ended up with. A lot better."

"I know that, I just-"

"I love Annabel. And what you or Mom or Cam or anyone else think about that is irrelevant. I'm not going to college, I'm not going to breakup with Annabel, and I'm not going to listen to anyone talk bad about our relationship. So you can just get over it."

"You are lucky that you're driving a car right now, Owen Gavin," his father said.

Snorting at the sound of his middle name, the teen glanced at him before saying, "Yeah, so are you."

It went without saying that the two of them were still fighting when they pulled up to the house. Each slammed their car door, the sounds echoing in the night. The pair just both stomped up to the house, still yelling even as the younger opened the door and walked in.

"-think that you're going to talk to your father in such a-"

"I think I'm me is who I think-"

"What are you two doing?" Teresa Armstrong was seated on the couch of the living room, her sister and daughter there as well. Mallory, who had been sleeping, sat up slightly on the couch, staring at her brother and father. "Do you know what time-"

"He started yelling at me like he could tell me-"

"Like I could tell you? Boy, I ought to bend you over and whoop you right-"

"Stop it," Camille said as she stood up from the chair she had been sitting in. "Look what you did. You woke Mallory. You two knuckleheads do realize-"

"Don't you speak to me, Camille," the elder said, wagging a finger at her now. "I'm about done with children thinking-"

"Children?" She snorted as Teresa stood to intervene. "Who do you-"

"All of you stop," the woman said, sighing loudly as Mallory moved to get up too. She was staring wide-eyed at her father. "Now-"

"I have to get out of here." Owen turned then, heading back for the door. "I'll be there, Mallory, in the morning, but right now-"

"Where do you think you're going?" His father frowned. "You can't-"

"I'm going to see Annabel," he said, moving to open the door.

"No, you are not," his mother said, but he just snorted, heading right out of it.

"Watch me."

* * *

"Gavin," Annabel said slowly. "Owen Gavin."

"All that I just told you and that's all you took away from it?"

Smiling, she grasped one of his hands in her own before outstretching them both. "I never knew that. Gavin. I love that. How did I not know your middle name?"

"I hate it, that's why."

"I don't. Gavin. Gavin Bear."

"What is up with you and bears anyways?"

The two of them were out in Annabel's backyard, sharing one of the pool chairs. It was chilly out of course, but the two of them were snuggled up on the chair, Owen's unzipped jacket protecting them both. He was on his back while she snuggled up on his chest, neither particularly caring if her parents could see them out there or not. Annabel only cared about making her boyfriend feel better and he only cared about being with her.

"Mmmm." Annabel held their arms out for a moment before letting his hand go and snuggling back against him. "You did kind of act spoiled, Owen."

"What?"

"From what you told me, you kind of sounded-"

"You can't be serious."

"Spoiled might not be the right word, no, but you didn't handle that well."

"He was saying-"

"I know. You can't keep having these outbursts though, Snoogie."

He huffed, staring out into the dark night. "I thought you would take my side."

"I'm always on your side," she told him. "I just don't always agree with your actions."

They both just laid there then, Annabel taking to stroking his chest as he watched the stars. He knew that she would have to go inside soon and he'd have to go home; he just didn't want to yet. He didn't want to let Annabel go and he didn't want to have to go home. He just wanted to lay there for the rest of his life if he could. He knew he couldn't though.

"Do you think Kirsten will be a good mother?"

Owen looked down at his girlfriend then, frowning. "What?"

"You heard me."

"I dunno," he said, shifting slightly. "I don't know her well."

"You don't like what you do know of her though, do you?"

"No," Owen admitted without hesitation. "I don't. She's only ever been rude to me. Will that make her a bad mother though? No. Your mom's a pretty good one and your dad's alright, so I think she'll be okay. Not spectacular or anything. Okay though. Maybe."

"Do you think I'd be a good mother?"

He smiled then. "Most definitely."

"And what makes you think that?"

"Because you have a good heart, good soul, great body-"

"What does that last one have to do with anything?"

"Your body'll bounce right back."

"Shut up. That has nothing to do with being a good mother."

"Has everything to do with being a good wife though."

"Shut up. Seriously."

"I'm kidding. You're a good person. That's what makes me think you'll be a good mother."

"They're two different things though."

"Let me put it this way," he began then. "You put up with me and all the fits I throw. A baby crying can't get much worse than that, can it?"

They stayed out there in the cold for as long as they dared before heading back inside, grabbing cokes before heading into the living room, knowing her room was out of bounds at that time of night. Her father was there in the living room, alone, watching a documentary. The two teens just took a seat on the couch while he sat in the chair, hardly even glancing at them. Until a commercial anyways.

"Don't you think it's about time that you got home, Owen?" Andrew asked, still barely looking at the teens. "It's getting rather late. I thought your father was getting in?"

"He is. He was. We just…fought, so I figured it'd be best to get out of the house."

"Is he staying at your house?"

"No. A hotel. But-"

"You have to leave sometime. Face your fate. Why prolong it?"

"Dad," Annabel complained, frowning at him. "It's the weekend. Not to mention Thanksgiving break. Owen-"

"Has a sister having surgery in the morning, yes? I know where I'd be."

"Andrew."

They all three looked up when Grace Greene appeared in the doorway of the living room, glaring at her husband. "Can I see you for a moment? Now?"

Grumbling under his breath, the man stood and followed his wife up the stairs. Owen wasn't sure if the woman was upset by his treatment of his future son-in-law from earlier in the night or the fact he'd just insulted Owen's feelings towards his sister, but either way, he was glad.

"Your dad's a prick," Owen whispered in his girlfriend's ear before kissing it. "You know that?"

"Mmmm." She shifted away from him slightly. "He's right though. About going home."

"I know," he sighed. "I just-"

"I have the radio show to do in the morning, Owen. You haven't forgotten?"

"No, of course not. It's just…Mallory…"

"I know. Be with your family, Bear." She kissed his cheek. "Rolly's coming to help me."

He blinked. "Rolly."

"He offered and I said yes. Also, he wants to talk about Clarke or something." She shook her head, her blonde hair falling down from the loose ponytail she had it tied up in. "Oops."

"Leave it down." Owen smiled a her slightly. "At least until I go home."

Giggling, she leaned into his arm. "You're cute."

"I'm ferocious."

"Right. Sure."

"I am. You should see me backed into a corner."

"I have. You're harmless."

"Only 'cause I love you so much."

"Only 'cause."

Still, the time wore on and Owen didn't leave. Annabel's father eventually returned, just sitting there in his chair, watching documentaries while keeping an eye on his daughter and her boyfriend. The two teens just sat there though, his daughter even falling asleep eventually. At midnight, Andrew had had enough.

"Alright, kids," he announced then. "Time to go home, Owen. Time to go upstairs, Annabel."

She just groaned as she was awoken. "Dad-"

"Now. I mean it."

Owen stood slowly before going to take their empty cans of soda to the trash. Annabel followed him, still clearly tired.

"I wish you could stay."

"I know." Owen kissed her when she was close enough, though it was just a peck. "I have to go though."

"I'll walk you to your-"

"It's cold, Bella." He smiled at her. "Besides, I think I can find the way on my own."

"Alright," she gave in, clearly reluctant. "I'll miss you at the show tomorrow."

"I'll be with you on Tuesday."

"I know."

"And although I don't trust Rolly to be any help at all, I'm sure that you'll do fine without me." He smirked. "After all, you were trained by the best."

"Yeah," she sighed, moving to kiss him this time. "I guess I was."

* * *

He tried to sneak in quietly. In fact, he did sneak in quietly. It just didn't matter.

"If I didn't already have hell to face tomorrow, I would whip you so badly that you wish it was your father who did it."

Owen just stared at his mother for a long moment before saying, "If it's any consolation, Annabel likes my middle name."

For a moment, Owen and his mother just stared at each other in the dimly lit living room, the only light coming from the lamp off in the corner. She broke first though as she closed her eyes tightly and took in a deep, noisy breath.

"You can only push someone so far, Owen."

"…Can I go to bed? 'cause we do gotta get up early in the-"

Her eyes flung open. "Don't you ever do that again. Come in here yelling and screaming like that. Walk out on your father and I like that. If it wasn't for your sister being so ill, I'd have-"

"I get it, I'm in trouble. Alright. God. Why are you-"

"Stop talking back to me. Now."

"Mom-"

"Go to bed."

"But-"

"Go. It's what you wanted. You know, Owen, because I was only put on this world to serve you."

"That's not-"

"Go. Now. Get out of my face. You'll be lucky if I even wake you up in the morning much less allow you to go with us."

"Then-"

"Nope. Go. One more word and I will go ahead and get that belt."

Scowling, he headed away then, down the hall to his bedroom. When he opened the door though, he found that someone else was already sleeping in his bed.

"You have got to clean this place up. I mean honestly, has that little girlfriend of yours never lodged a complaint?"

He just blinked, staring at the woman for a second before shaking his head. "Get out, Cam."

Snuggling into his bed, she said, "No. I was here first."

"Now. Go sleep in Mom's room or something. She probably won't sleep tonight." He went over to his computer and logged on, planning on checking his email. "I, however, do plan on it. So if you could just, you know, leave and never come back, my life would be great."

"What is up with you and hating me recently? It's really gotten stale." She sat up then, shaking her blonde hair, smiling when he stared. "Remind you of something?"

"You're sick."

"You're sick for assuming what I meant."

"You're sick for-"

"Alright, knock it off." She pushed out of bed, sighing slightly. "I hardly want to see you get ready for bed anyways. Your room disgusts me enough."

"Ha ha."

He turned his attention to his computer then once she was gone. He didn't have any email, though he did shoot Rolly one, informing him that he was not happy with him helping Annabel out the next morning and that if he screwed anything up, he'd harm him. Once that was complete, he stripped down, set his alarm, and got into bed. After sending Annabel their standard goodnight text, he immediately settled out for sleep. It had been a long day.

"Good day," he mumbled. Really good day. Good show, another notch on his belt as far as the whole sex thing went, and just hanging around his girlfriend was great. That evening though… "Bad night."

But they can't all be good. Can they?

* * *

**Did I ever give Owen's father a name? I cannot for the life of remember if I did or not, so I'm leaning towards not. Does anyone remember? And by that I mean the only two people that ever review? Really think I didn't, but maybe I'm wrong. **


	3. Chapter 3

Winter Freeze

Chapter 3

"What if I was pregnant?"

Owen blinked. "Are you?"

"Of course not."

"Oh."

"But what if?"

He shut his eyes again. "Bell, it's three in the morning. What-"

"Whitney missed her period."

"Bleh." He couldn't help making that noise. The last thing he ever wanted to hear about was her sister's period. "Is she?"

"No," Annabel sighed. "I've been waiting all day for you to call me, but you wouldn't. That's what I spent all Monday doing, listening to Whitney whine about being pregnant. Then she did that whole pee on the stick thing. So she's not. Came back negative."

"…Why did you call again?"

"Because it's three in the morning, I can't sleep, and I'm so bored. Everyone's mad at each other in the house. I hate it."

"Poor Bella."

"Where are you?"

"At home."

"Alone?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"I'm coming over."

"At three in the morning?"

"I'll sneak out and then… Better idea. Come pick me up."

"Annabel-"

"You're home alone. Not to mention awake."

"Thanks to you."

"Please, Bear? I can't sleep. I slept all day other than when I was listening to Whitney whine."

"What do you wanna do over here?"

"Be with you," she told him. "And I have the show in the morning in a few hours. So you pick me up, we sleep for a little at your house, do my radio show, go back to your place, sleep some more. Sounds like a plan, huh?"

"You sneaking out doesn't."

"I'll get out. Just be here in, oh, ten minutes or so?"

"Bella-"

"Please, Bear? I can't sleep without you."

Letting out a long groan, Owen pushed out of bed, feeling extremely cold at the loss of his blankets. "I'll be there soon, Bell."

"Okay. Love you!"

She was way too perky. Dropping his phone onto his bed, Owen stood slowly before going to get dressed. It was snowing outside and he really didn't feel like going out, but for Annabel, he'd travel across the world.

The roads were dead the whole way to the Arbors. Completely. Owen didn't even see any cops. It was kind of creepy, honestly.

"God, you're freaking frozen solid. Get in the car," Owen scolded as Annabel did just that. She had been waiting down at the end of her street, at a stop sign. "And what are you doing out there? Just standing there in the middle of the night? Anyone could have gotten you."

"Anyone?" Annabel immediately turned up his heat.

"Anyone," he said, nodding. "A killer, a rapist, a mugger. Do you know what time it is?"

"Let's just get back your house, alright?"

Owen looked over his girlfriend, who had clearly dressed for the radio show in a few hours. This didn't shock him as they would be leaving straight from his house.

"What were you doing out there anyways?"

"I couldn't wait in the house, Owen. Someone might have seen us. So I left and came to wait for you out here."

He just groaned. "You kill me, you know that?"

"I love you though, Snoogie." She smiled at him. "I'm just so, you know, wired tonight or whatever. And I was so bored in the house. Everyone was in bed. Even Kirsten. I had to do something."

"Sleep sounds like a good idea."

"I didn't want to sleep. I wanted to be with you."

He just shook his head. "And now you are."

"Oh, and by the way, the more I thought of it, the worse I think you would be as a parent."

"What?"

She nodded. "You have a major anger issues, Bear."

He blinked. "Not major."

"Yes, major. I wouldn't want you to, like, hit the baby or shake it when you get frustrated."

"I would never hurt a baby, Annabel," he said now, offended as they pulled away from the curb. "My God."

"No one thinks they would, Owen, but that's part of the problem, why so many teen dads do hurt their babies. They just get annoyed and then-"

"I wouldn't hurt my kid. End of discussion."

"I think you would."

"I don't care what you think."

"See? Anger issues."

He let out a long breath. "So what? You'll never have a baby with me?"

"Right now? No. Ever? I dunno."

"Did you ever think that I wouldn't want to have a baby with you?"

"What?"

He nodded. "I think you have a bad family life and it would influence our child."

"I think you have a bad family life."

"I think you have a worse one."

"Well, you're stupid."

He glared at her for that, but Annabel only giggled.

"I'm joking, Snoogie. I would never have a child with you because I fear your genes might be dominant. I can't have an ugly baby, can I?"

Letting out a long sigh, he said, "You really get to me sometimes, you know that?"

"Do you love me?"

"More than life."

"Then it's okay, huh?"

"It really is."

She smiled then, staring over at him. "How did the surgery go?"

"It went," he told her stiffly, clearly not wanting to speak about it. Annabel let it go though, knowing he'd get around her to telling her eventually.

"Well, Whitney's little scare came and went too."

"Mmmm."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You seem-"

"You and your sisters just breed drama, is all," he told her, turning his stereo down slightly. "You know that you do."

"We do not."

"You know as well as I do that you do," he said, shaking his head slightly. "It's fine, I mean. Nothing horrible. You're just drama breeders."

"You're annoying."

"You're the one that wanted to be with me."

"I have no idea why."

When they got back to his house, Annabel was all giggly again, rushing from the Land Cruiser up to the house, Owen following at a slower pace.

"Come on, Bear," she complained, jumping up and down. "It's freezing! Open the door."

"I'm coming," he sighed, as he got to her. "I'm right here."

Once they were inside, Annabel quickly headed to his bedroom, Owen trailing behind. She jumped into his bed the second she saw it, shivering as she cuddled into his blankets.

"I'm freezing, Bear."

"I'm coming," he mumbled, going to turn on his stereo before pulling his shirt off and dropping his jeans. When Annabel raised an eyebrow, he said, "This is how I sleep."

"Mmmm."

"How do you sleep?"

"Not in my underwear," she told him as he got into bed with her. She quickly snuggled into him, giggling when he almost fell off the bed. "One day one of us is going to have to get a bigger mattress."

"Don't I know it," he mumbled, kissing the top of her head. "I love you."

"Do you?"

"Mmmhmm."

"How much?"

"Enough to leave my comfy bed and go out into the cold to get you when you were bored at home."

"That is true love, I believe."

"The truest."

Giggling, she asked, "Do you have an alarm set for when we need to get up?"

"Yeah. I have to take a shower before we go though."

"That's fine."

"So let's just sleep until then, huh?" He tucked her head under his chin as he wrapped his arms tightly around her. "Bella."

"Is that what you want to do?"

"Yes."

"You're no fun."

"Fun? You want fun?" He snorted. "I freaking snuck out to go pick you up at, what? Three in the morning?"

"You didn't sneak out. Nobody's home."

"You're so unappreciative."

"I feel the same way about you. I mean, God, _I _snuck out to be with you. And you haven't even made out with me yet."

"You wanna make out?"

"Well, I didn't come over here to have stimulating conversations."

He just blinked. "Are you calling me dumb again?"

"You're so cute." She kissed his neck. "Bear."

When she began stroking his chest, Owen just settled out, lying there as he breathed slowly in and out. She was humming softly, but Owen couldn't pick up on the tune. He was nearly certain that it was some pop hit or something that he would never have anything to do with.

"I worried about you and your sister all day today," Annabel whispered to him at one point. "I love you."

"I know you do. I love you too." He closed his eyes tightly. "Forever."

She poked his chest gently. "Forever."

* * *

"I mean, God, is there anyone hotter than Cortana? Like in the newest game? In all videogames ever?"

"Try a lot of chicks."

"Name one."

"Catwoman, Talia Ghul, Zelda, Samus-"

"Shit. Yeah, Samus totally beats out Cortana. No one beats Samus."

"Lara Croft."

"Bullshit."

"Ask anyone. Lara Croft is way hotter than Samus Aran."

"In what way?"

"In every way!"

Annabel groaned though neither guy looked at her, their eyes trained on the television. When that didn't get their attention, she just leaned up to Owen's ear and whispered in it, "I think the pizza rolls are done."

"Oh, shit." He jumped up then, pausing the game he and Rolly were playing. "We forgot the rolls, bro."

"I didn't forget shit," Rolly said, reaching forwards to grab his beer off the coffee table. "My Cheetos took no prep time."

Annabel yawned slightly, shifting on the ground now that her boyfriend wasn't there to lean against. "Bring me another beer, Owen."

"Aye-aye," he mumbled, heading into the kitchen. Rolly's parents had left for the week, heading to spend Thanksgiving with some family. Rolly told them he couldn't go because of work and they had let him stay home. It paid have freaks as parents. For as lax as Teresa was, she still liked to reign her son in from time to time. Not Rolly's parents.

Teresa told Owen he could drink so long as he did so responsibly and told her after. Rolly's parents bought him beer and kept the house stocked with it. Teresa told Owen he could 'experiment' if he wished, just nothing too dangerous. Rolly's parents had no boundaries; it was a free for all.

So of course Rolly had had parties. His parents had left on Friday and so far, there had been a constant stream of people in and out of his house. Still, when Owen had asked him if Annabel and him could come over, Rolly made sure it would just be the three of them. He knew that his best friend had issues with being around other people. Not to mention, Owen was drama in and of himself. He didn't need to add other people milling around, breeding their own buzz of excitement.

Owen spent some time in the kitchen, trying to find something to drink other than beer. His head hurt and he was kind of woozy on his feet. He wanted a coke, but he was having a hard time locating one.

"Dude, the fuck are you doing in there?" he heard Rolly call to him when he accidentally knocked a box of cookies over. "I want my fucking pizza rolls."

Owen shook his head, finally looking in the fridge for a drink. Of course there was a can of coke in there. Of course. Why hadn't he thought of it before? The fridge. Duh.

"I feel more fucked up than I am," Owen told his two friends as he came back into the living room with the plate of snacks in one hand and a coke in the other. "My head…"

"You're tired," Annabel told him from the couch where she was now perched. "Beer's not helping anything."

"Nah, man, you just need to relax some."

Owen frowned at Rolly, who at some point rolled a blunt while he was gone. "I don't do drugs."

"You read that off the back of a minivan?"

"Go to hell." Owen took his spot on the ground once more before holding up the plate to his girlfriend, letting her take a few pizza rolls. Then, setting it between him and his friend, he said, "Let's just get back to playing."

"I don't wanna play Halo," Rolly said then. "Ain't no fun offline."

"If you had paid your internet bill-"

"I had other…affairs to take care of."

Owen was going to say something, but Annabel hit him in the head suddenly, ruining that. "What?"

"You didn't bring me my beer."

"Who needs beer?" Rolly inhaled whatever he had rolled up in there before letting it out slowly. "Who needs shit?"

"And we've lost Rolly," Annabel sighed, snuggling into one of the couch pillows. "Let's watch a movie."

"Yeah," Rolly said then, nodding his head. "A movie."

"I don't want to watch a-"

"Owen," Annabel whined. "Please?"

"What movie?" he groaned as he got up to turn off the Xbox. "Guys?"

"Let's watch a fucking porno."

"So what movie, Bella?" Owen asked, ignoring his friend. "Seriously?"

"Mmmm…something nice. And sweet."

"Or not." Owen went over to where the Rolly's family kept the DVDs. "Let's watch a horror movie."

"We always watch horror movies," Annabel whined. "Then I can't sleep. And I get scared. And I'm all alone at home."

"Tough."

"Owen-"

"Fine. We'll watch-"

"Porno."

"Rolly, you're about to get kicked out."

"It's my house."

"You-"

"It is his house, Owen," Annabel pointed out.

"Annabel can stay. You leave," Rolly said before inhaling some more…crap. That's what that stuff was. Crap. It annoyed the hell out of Owen, watching someone get high. It really did. "I'd rather make one than watch one."

"If I wasn't pretty sure I couldn't drive straight down the road right now, we'd totally leave."

"No pornos," Annabel mumbled as she settled out on the couch. "Sorry, Rolly."

"Wasn't expecting much."

"This isn't funny. I'm not laughing."

"Calm down," Annabel said, sitting up slightly. "Just put on a damn movie."

"Don't curse at me."

"Oh grow up."

"You need to relax, Owen," Rolly said again. "Relax."

"If you say relax one more-"

"Re-"

"I need another." Annabel pushed up fully then, heading back into the kitchen. While she was gone, Owen put in a movie before going back over to the couch.

"Why does getting drunk suck so fucking much?" He laid down on the couch, sighing. "I don't…I feel horrible."

"It's okay, buddy. You're just all stressed about your sister and shit. I get it. Just chill some, huh?"

Chill some. Right. Owen hardly looked up as Annabel came back into the room, another beer can in her hands.

"How drunk are you getting?"

"Shut up, Owen." She took her rightful place at his side, sighing slightly. "Who are you to judge?"

"I'm not judging you," he told her. "I'm just curious. That's all."

A long silence fell over the three of them as Annabel sat down and the movie started. It didn't last long though.

"I think Clarke hates me."

Owen was ready to ignore Rolly. It was what he was best at after all. Annabel though, wasn't.

"I don't think my sister and Brian should get married."

Frowning at her, Owen tried to ask what she was talking about, but Rolly just spoke again.

"I did horrible on my SAT and ACT tests."

"I think my parents might be getting a divorce."

"What are you-"

"I think I'm gonna vomit."

"I think I hate my sister for getting pregnant."

"Seriously, knock it-"

"I think I'm going to end up alone forever."

"I think I am too."

"I think Owen is also."

"I think Owen is as well."

"I don't get the joke," Owen complained as they both started laughing. "I don't-"

"There is no joke, Owen," Annabel told him as she sat her drink on the coffee table before moving to lay her head down in his lap. "That's the joke. That there isn't one."

"Yeah, bro," Rolly said, staring at the screen. "Your chick hangs better than you."

That was just an insult. Pure and simple. Scowling, Owen said, "I think my sister's going to die."

"Owen-"

"No. That's the game you're playing, right? Right?"

"It's not a game. God. Not everything's so serious." Annabel shifted in his lap. "We know that you're worried about Mallory. We are too. Aren't we, Rolly?"

"I ain't worried 'bout shit," Rolly told them both. "Life works out, bro. Always. Never doubt that and you'll be fine."

"Life doesn't always work out though," Owen argued.

"Does for me."

"You were just complaing about Clarke and being alone and stuff."

"Yeah, Owen, I was. But that stuff will work out. It will." He blew some more smoke, which was pretty symbolic of the smoke he was blowing figuratively. Owen honestly just wanted him to shut up. "And if I do end up alone and Annabel ends up alone, then we'll probably, you know, end up together."

"Will we?" Annabel had her eyes shut them, breathing softly. Owen thought she was trying to go to sleep and was slightly pissed she had insisted on the movie if she was.

"Yeah," Rolly said, nodding his head. "I mean, you're not my type, but you have a hot body. I'd fuck you."

Usually this would have embarrassed the hell out of the teen girl. At that moment though, she was buzzed if not drunk and feeling extremely good.

"But would I let you?"

"No," Owen answered for Rolly, frowning. "She wouldn't."

"You don't factor into this, bro," the other teen boy told him. "You're, like, dead or something."

"Dead? I thought you said everything would work out."

"If you believed it would," Rolly corrected. "You didn't. Now you're dead and I'm going to knock up your girlfriend."

"Shut up."

"Now, now, boys," Annabel sighed.

"Let's just watch the fucking movie." Owen shifted on the couch, resting a hand on the back of his girlfriend's head. "Dickwad."

"Owen-"

"Not you, Bell."

"Me?" Rolly laughed then, very loudly. Too loudly. "I love you too, Owen."

"Shut the fuck up."

"How are you guys friends?" Annabel mumbled.

"Because we love each other."

"Shut up, Rolly."

"What happens when the two of us are alone, stays between the two of us alone." Rolly laughed. "It's not gay if you're both straight."

"Shut up. That's not even-"

"He's kidding." Annabel kissed Owen's thigh, sighing slightly. "Stop messing with him, Rolly."

"It's cool," Rolly told her. "You're not my type, Owen."

"You have a type. As far as men goes."

"Like you've never thought about it. Everyone should know their type if they ever decide to-"

"I won't."

"You can't say that, Owen," Annabel mumbled. "You never know how when you'll find that special-"

"I thought you just told him to stop messing with me?"

"Burly isn't my type," Rolly went on. "Nah. I don't want a man. Not like that. He'd probably be too rough for me. I mean, you're too rough for Annabel, right?"

"Hey!"

"What? You're the one that told me about the br-"

"You told him?" Annabel sat up then, almost falling off the couch in the process. Owen felt slightly bad about hoping that she would though it was only because he wanted her to land on Rolly and injure him.

"Yes," Owen said slowly. "He…I mean, you said I could."

"I told you that I didn't care if you told him we had sex. Not you could tell him everything."

"I didn't tell him everything."

"Close to it," Rolly butted in. He wanted to kill him, Owen truly did. "You're a bleeder, eh?"

"Owen!"

"Rolly!"

"You guys are no fun." Rolly let out a loud yawn. "For the three bestest friends ever, we have zero fun together."

"What would be fun for you, Rolly? Other than telling my girlfriend all the things I've told you in confidence?"

"Pornos."

"If you don't-"

"I have to go to the bathroom," Annabel said then, standing. She was speaking loudly now and was using hand gestures. It was a official; Annabel had crossed over from buzzed to drunk. Great.

The two boys just sat there, watching her as she left the room. It wasn't until she was gone that Rolly started laughing again.

"What?" Owen asked, frowning. "What is so funny?"

"I love you guys. I love you so much. You're my world, Owen boy. You and your girl."

"Shut up, Rolly," he sighed as on screen the two main protagonists met for the first time. It was a chick flick, meaning they would no doubt end up together regardless of the fact that they were currently displaying their initial hate for one another.

"Annabel, Rolly, and Owen. ARO. RAO. OAR." Rolly gasped. "That's our new croak name!"

"You mean code name?"

"OAR. OAR. So cool." Rolly started laughing again. "I love myself."

"Yeah," Owen sighed. "I know."

"Mmmm. Can you and Annabel stay? All day?" Rolly leaned his head back, staring up at his friend. "I don't like being alone."

"That's why you have those parties. Have another party. With your Fountain friends."

"My fuck friends."

"What?"

He just laughed slightly before closing his eyes. "I don't like 'em like I like you guys."

"Annabel and I aren't anything special."

"You kidding?" Rolly smiled. "You guys are my best friends."

"Annabel doesn't even really like you."

"She loves me."

"She loves _me_," Owen corrected. "She tol…tol.. deals with you."

"Tall? She thinks I'm tall?"

"I was trying to say…tol…"

"Tall."

"Tolerate," Owen finally got out. "She tolerates you."

"Oh. Well, I am tall though."

"Not really."

"Not compared to you, burly man. Compared to normal men."

Owen had a headache. He was honestly starting to wish that he had gone to the hospital to see his sister.

"Your chick's been in there a long time," Rolly said. Then, giggling, he said, "Maybe she had to shit."

Eating some of his pizza rolls, Owen sat there silently for a few minutes before saying, "I want a guitar."

"I have a guitar."

"You have Guitar Hero."

"And Rock Band," he said, nodding his head slightly.

"That is not the same thing."

"It is the same thing. I have DJ Hero too. We can play-"

"No."

They both frowned as Annabel came back into the room.

"No?"

"No," she reiterated to Rolly. "We are watching this movie."

"You don't even know what's going on in this movie," Owen pointed out.

"I don't care." Annabel immediately sat back down on the couch. Then, to the other teen boy, she said, "You have a nice house, Rolly."

She was talking so loudly. God, she'd be a mess to get home.

"Thank you," Rolly said.

"A really nice home."

"I know."

Though Owen really did hate to admit it, she was right. It was a really nice place Rolly's parents had. It wasn't Arbors nice or Wildflower Ridge, but it was pretty damn nice. It was an older home that Rolly's father had put a lot of work into or so he told Owen randomly. It had a pretty open living room that led right into the just as open kitchen. Big flat screen, one of those L-shaped couches. It was freaking awesome. Owen wasn't sure how he ended up with a rich girlfriend and best friend, but he kind of dug it.

"There's a concert tonight at the park," Rolly mentioned randomly as Annabel settled out on the couch again, this time with her feet in her boyfriend's lap. "We could-"

"I told you, Rolly, that that band is shit."

"It's just a local one," he went on, trying to explain to Annabel for some reason. She was on the cusp of falling asleep though. "Perkins fags, but they're alright. They have a chick for a drummer. She blew me once, back in-"

"We're not going to the damn concert," Owen told his friend, frowning.

"It's free."

"So is sitting here eating pizza rolls."

"For you," Rolly grumbled.

"And that's exactly why I like it."

* * *

"Bella? We're here."

She groaned, not moving from her spot in his passenger seat. "I don't wanna get out."

"You gotta," Owen told her. "I have to get home. So come on. I'll take you inside."

"No."

"Annabel-"

"Why can't I go home with you?"

"Because you can't."

"My head hurts."

"You're drunk. Or coming down off it. Whatever." He patted her arm. "Come on. No one's home. It's the perfect time to sneak you in there, wouldn't you say?"

She just moaned slightly. "Carry me?"

"No. Get out. Hurry. Before your parents show up or something."

She was not happy to say the least as she slowly unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the Land Cruiser. Owen was quick to get out to, wanting to help her along, afraid she'd stumble and hurt herself. He hadn't gotten nearly as wasted as she had.

"I don't wanna go upstairs," she told Owen when they finally managed to unlock the first door. "I'mma sleep down here. Okay?"

"No," he told her. "You have to sleep up there. If you fall asleep down here, your parents will speak to you, notice you, and just realize that you're drunk. Do you want that?"

"Mr. Honesty," she reprimanded with a slight laugh. "That'd be a lie."

"Yeah," he sighed. "I know. Thanks to you it's almost like I support that lifestyle."

Annabel just pushed away from him slightly, heading further into the house. "No one's here, Bear."

"I know," he sighed, closing the door behind them.

"Let's have sex."

"What?"

She just laughed before rushing up the stairs. Frowning, Owen quickly followed, knowing there was a good chance she would fall.

"You really want to have sex?"

"Yes!" Annabel made it up the stairs without fail, but almost tripped over her feet on the way to her bedroom door. She rested against it for a moment, hand on the doorknob, before pushing in and stumbling over to her bed. "Now."

"Really?" Owen came into the room after her. "Because-"

"I'm sleepy, Bear," she cut him off, snuggling into her covers. "So sleepy."

"Of course," he sighed, never believing for a second that he could really have sex three times in seven days anyways. "You always get that way when you're drunk."

"Lay down with me," she mumbled, her eyes slipping shut. "Owen."

"Bella, I gotta go home. Really. My parents-"

"Just for a minute?"

He sighed, going to sit on the edge of her bed. Annabel smiled slightly though as he reached behind himself to stroke her side.

"Love you, Bella," he mumbled to her, looking out the glass of her bedroom wall, making sure that her parents didn't pull up. "I have to go though."

"Mmmm."

"Tomorrow's your last show of the week. I'll be there. And then Thursday is Thanksgiving."

"Mmmhmm."

"And I'm sure your mom and Whitney are cooking, right?"

"Mmmhmm."

"Good. I can't wait."

"Mmmm."

He sat there for awhile, listening to her as she drifted off. It wasn't long before she was in deep slumber, her breathing evening out not soon after. Owen just sighed as he stood up before leaning over to give her a gentle kiss to her forehead.

"See you later, Bell," he whispered before heading out. He really didn't want to leave her. He honestly hadn't even wanted to leave Rolly's. But his parents had called him home and there was no way he was leaving his drunken girlfriend with his stoned best friend. Because even though they were the only two people in the world Owen could trust, he wasn't stupid. Not even close.

Once he was back in his Land Cruiser, Owen immediately opened the glove box. Since he had begun dating Annabel nearly a year ago, he started keeping a little bottle of that Axe body spray in there just in case he needed it. He had gone through tons of bottles at first, as many guys do when they're first learning that balance. Their first few dates Annabel about chocked to death from all the fumes. These days, Owen mostly just used Axe to cover up the smell of alcohol.

Not that he was going to be lying to his parents. Because he wasn't. He was totally going to tell them at some point that he and Annabel had gotten drunk with Rolly. Just not when they were all worried about his sister.

"Where were you all day?"

Owen frowned as he came into the house, slightly shocked to find his father sitting there on the couch. Since when did his father become so comfortable in his ex-wife's home? It was…creepy.

"With Rolly and Annabel," Owen said simply as he walked further into the house. "Is anyone else here or-"

'Your aunt." His father nodded towards the kitchen. Looking in there, Owen frowned when he saw his aunt cooking. "What-"

"Mom and Dad are coming, Owen," Cam said as she turned to look back out at him.

"Coming?"

"For an early Thanksgiving."

"I don't-"

"And they're bringing a few people."

"Here?"

She shook her head. "To my house. I just decided to cook a few things over here. You know your mother has much more ingredients than I do."

"Right," he said slowly before looking back at his father. "Where's Mom?"

"The hospital still."

"Oh." He frowned at his father. "What are you doing here then?"

"I was waiting for you, Owen. The only way I had back from the hospital was with Camille and she was coming here."

"To cook," the woman reiterated. "So, Owen, what were you and your girlfriend doing that was so important anyways?"

"Nothing. I told you that we were just with Rolly."

"What were you boys doing all alone with-"

"Enough," his father said, standing then. "Come on, Owen, we're going out."

"Out?"

"To dinner."

His stomach was not up for that. His head was not up for that. He was a little dizzy at the moment.

"Dad-"

"What? Did you eat with Annabel?"

"Well, Rolly had pizza rolls and-"

"Ah, nonsense. That's not a real meal." Then, to his son, he whispered, "Neither is what Camille's preparing, but-"

"I heard that."

"Come on, Owen." He clapped his son on the shoulder. "There's much to discuss."

"To discuss?"

"Yes."

"Like?"

"Things."

Owen really didn't want to discuss 'things' with his father. The last time they discussed 'things' he got in trouble. It wasn't fair. His father shouldn't be allowed to force him into a conversation and then punish him when the outcome wasn't up to his standards. It just wasn't fair.

"Where are we going to eat?" Owen asked as he headed out of the house, his father right behind. "Dad?"

"I was thinking that place you like so much. The one we ate at last time I was here."

"World of Waffles."

"Yeah, let's go there."

"Dad, I'm really not that hungry."

"You will be tonight, right? You can just take what you don't finish home with you and eat it later. I'm sure there's nothing there's nothing eatable in that house. You can't deny that."

Owen really didn't want to drive again. It made him nauseous. Why did his father suddenly have to have all the answers? Huh? And what were they going to talk about anyways?

He didn't find out until they got to World of Waffles. All through the car ride his father was silent, even enduring Owen's music in silence. Why couldn't all of their conversations be that way? Silent? Nonexistent?

It wasn't until they were seated in the practically empty restaurant that his father spoke.

"God, I always forget how cold it is in here," his father said, rubbing his arms while looking around the place. "Good thing I had a jacket. Don't know how you take it down here, son. Too cold for me. I can't wait to get back home."

"I hold up," Owen said evenly, not even looking at the menu in front of him. He always got the same thing anyways.

"Still. I'd take the desert any day."

He would as well. If it wasn't for Annabel, he'd probably have already asked to go stay with his father down in Arizona again. Oh, and Anger Management. That was a pretty important part of his life too.

"I guess so."

His father tried to smile at him again, but Owen just saw all the lines and wrinkles in his face. His father wasn't too old, yet time seemed to have been unkind to him. Especially the more recent years.

It wasn't until the waitress came and left that his father spoke again. Even then it was only after taking a long sip of the coffee he had gotten. He made a face then went to add a pack of Sweet'n Low.

"They make it strong," he remarked before looking into his son's green eyes again. Owen was just openly staring at him, wanting to just get on with it so he could go back home to sleep the day off.

"So, I just wanted to take you out tonight, get everything out in the air. I won't be down here forever, you know, and something tells me that it won't be easy to get you to come down to Arizona for Christmas break."

He blinked. "Annabel and I-"

"Oh, Owen-"

"-are having our anniversary over break. So no, it won't be easy."

It was his father's turn to blink. After he did, he just looked off, frowning slightly. "Well, anyways, that's not what I wanted to discuss."

Good. Owen knew if they did, they would only end up fighting. That was the last thing he wanted to do at the moment.

"Okay," he said slowly, wishing his father would just get hurry up.

"I was thinking, and your mother agrees with me, that maybe after you graduate, you could come stay out with me."

"Stay with you."

"Yes. Come live in Arizona. I have that house all to myself and-"

"Why would I-"

"You say that you don't want to go to college, Owen. You have to do something." He shook his head slightly. "Your sister isn't getting any better."

"I know that."

"Your mother doesn't have the money nor the time to support you."

"She's not going to."

"Owen, if you're not going to school and are only delivering pizzas while living in her house, she is supporting you."

"And what exactly would I do in Arizona?"

"I could get you a job, maybe, in my office. Nothing big. Just something to occupy your time. And then-"

"No," Owen said, a frown present on his face.

"No?"

"No," he repeated. "Annabel-"

"Annabel is going away for college, son. I know you don't want to think about it, but she is. Do you know where she's going?"

"I know where she's applied."

"And are any of them near here?"

"One."

"How close?"

"A few hours."

"See, Owen? A few hours. How many times do you think the two of you-"

"I don't want to talk about Annabel." Well, actually, he did. He liked to talk about her. How much he loved her, how much she loved how, all the fun things they did together. It was more he didn't want to talk about her in the way his father was.

"Life doesn't wait for you, Owen. You don't want to go to college? Fine. You don't want to go into the military? Fine. But don't think that a career will just come up and stare you in the eyes. You have to go find one. It's not just going to be waiting for you."

"I don't want a career."

He laughed at that. He literally laughed. "You don't?"

"No."

"Then what do you want?"

"I just want to work. I don't want to-"

"Work. Right. Minimum wage the rest of your life. See how much fun that is. See how much you wished you had listened to me then. Because you will, Owen."

"I really don't-"

"I know you don't want to talk about it, don't want to think about it. No one does, son." His father sighed. "But you have to. You don't get a choice."

"I am not going down to Arizona."

"Your mother-"

"If she doesn't want me, fine. I'll go stay somewhere else. But I'm not leaving Annabel behind."

"Even though that's the exact same thing she's doing to you?"

That was it. That was the same point of contusion everyone tried to get to with him. About how she was leaving him. She wasn't. She wasn't! She loved him. She told him so. She said that they'd make it all work out. And they wouldn't. Annabel would never leave him behind.

…Would she?

* * *

"So are you?"

"No."

He could almost hear the hesitation in her voice as she said his name. Only she didn't say his name, not his real one. "Gavin-"

"Stop it. Don't call me that."

"I like it."

"I know you like it. I don't care. That's not the point right now."

She sighed. "I just think that maybe it's not a bad idea. Going to stay with your father after the school year's up. Get out of your mom's hair, let her deal with Mallory, spend some time with your dad."

"What about us?"

"What about us?" she retorted.

"…Are you breaking-"

"No, stupid," she said with what he was sure accompanied an eye roll. He couldn't be too certain though as they were speaking over the phone as he lounged in his bed, sure that she was doing the same in her own.

"Don't call me-"

"What I meant was you leaving doesn't change what I feel for you. There's an us, Owen. There will always be an us."

He shifted on his bed, sighing slightly. "And I appreciate that the sentiment is returned. However, you know how much I hate being cut off."

That made her giggle, but it was a soft one. "Yeah, I know."

"Well, try not to do it so much."

Owen was home again, having gotten out of a fight with his father by mostly focusing on his dinner. The man was stubborn though and had insisted that Owen at least think about what he had said. Of course the teen agreed, as he would be thinking about it anyways. Thinking about how much he hated it that is.

"What are you doing right now?"

The teen boy's eyes were shut at that point, offering him up an easy answer. "Trying not to fall asleep."

"Mmmm."

"How'd being drunk go?"

"Slept most of it off, I think."

"It's what, midnight now?"

"Just about."

"Today was pretty good."

"For a day spent with Rolly? It was alright."

"So. Porn."

"What?"

He opened his eyes, now embarrassed that she didn't immediately pick up the reference. "You and Rolly. Remember? You said-"

"I said what?"

"You and Rolly said that you would-"

"I did no-"

"Stop cutting me off, Annabel."

"God, you're grouchy, Gavin."

"Stop calling me-"

"See what I m-"

"Stop cutting me-"

"Don't yell at-"

"Then stop cut-"

"I'm hanging-"

"No you're-"

She hung up on him. No, she seriously hung up on him. Growling, Owen sat up slightly to call her back.

"Don't you ever hang up on-"

"I will do it again. I will."

Owen frowned in the darkness. "You were cutting me off."

"And? Get used to it."

"Then get used to me snapping at you when you do it."

"Then get used to not having a girlfriend."

"Then get used to being a friendless-"

"Owen!"

He slowly laid back down, a soft sigh escaping his lips. "I got carried away."

"Yeah, you did."

"Well-"

"Apologize."

"What?"

"Now."

"You treat me like a dog."

"I can't hear you until you say that you're sorry."

"I'm sorry."

"Say it with more feeling."

"No."

"You're no fun."

"We have to get up in a few hours for your dumb radio show."

"R and R."

"Fine. Your highly unintelligence radio show."

"Yes, because old men wailing on about the sea is intelligent."

"It's cultured. My show is cultured."

"Just because it's from another culture doesn't mean it's intelligent. Many old empires allowed slavery. It was culture. Does that mean it's a good thing?"

He just groaned. "Why do you always win every argument?"

"Because I'm smarter than you, Bear. It's just another thing to get used to."

He was pretty sure he already had.

* * *

**Yeah, I meant to have this posted yesterday, but started playing Arkham City and it just didn't happen. Life goes on though. **


	4. Chapter 4

Winter Freeze

Chapter 4

"This actually worked out really nice," Annabel went on as Owen sat on her bed, waiting for her to hurry up and pick an outfit. He wasn't sure why she couldn't just wear what she had work to the radio station earlier that morning, but he was never one to argue with her. "We'll go be with your family today and mine tomorrow."

"Yeah, sure," he mumbled, staring down at his phone. He and Rolly were in a pretty heated debate about football and he really didn't care one way or another what Annabel thought was nice. The day and the next day were going to suck. They were all going to suck. Life sucked. Girl had to find that out eventually.

"After we finish with your family though, do you think you could come back here with me? I have to make something for dinner tomorrow. You cook better than I do."

"Mmmmhmm."

"I was thinking a pie. You like pie, don't you?"

"Mmmmhmm."

"You can even pick out the flavor."

"Chocolate."

"That's good. I'll ask Mom to pick us up the stuff to make it when she goes to the store this afternoon." She giggled slightly, finally pulling what she wanted out of her closet. "Okay, I'm going to go get dressed, alright?"

Owen was saved from death by mortification when her father walked in a split second before he made some kind of a crack about how she should just get dressed right in front of him, as they'd already seen more than enough of each other. God's grace, probably.

"Annabel, would you kindly tell your sister and her boyfriend that your mother-"

"Dad, not now. Talk to them yourself." She pushed passed him and into the hallway. "I have to get ready to go out with Owen. I won't be home till probably dinner time. We're eating over there though so-"

"No, we'll still be hungry," Owen interjected as he looked up from his phone. "Well, I will be."

"Owen," Annabel complained over her shoulder before she headed to the bathroom. He just shrugged, going back to his phone.

"Can you tell Kirsten then that her mother wants her to get ready to go shopping?"

Owen frowned, looking up to stare at Mr. Greene. "Me?"

"You want to be part of this family don't you?"

At the moment, not particularly. "I guess so."

"Then take care of that."

"Kirsten doesn't…like me."

"Life goes on," Andrew said simply, turning then to walk out of the room. "She's in her old bedroom, I think."

Owen sat there for a good minute, weighing his options. He and Andrew hadn't been on good terms since probably before last summer, before the whole cheating thing came to light and he struck Annabel. This was a chance to at least come to a somewhat stable truce. Maybe. On the other hand though, Kirsten…shiver.

Sighing as he found his feet, Owen headed out of Annabel's bedroom and into the hall. By process of elimination, he was able to figure out which room was Kirsten's and headed over to knock on it.

"What?" he heard her call from the other side of the door.

"Uh…your dad wanted me to tell you that your mother wanted you to know that she was going shopping later and she wanted you to get ready to go." Owen cleared his throat. "Okay?"

He heard the woman groan on the other side of the door and took that to mean that she had heard him. Smiling, he turned just as Annabel came out of the bathroom.

"Okay, Bear, let me get my shoes and then we can go," she told him as she walked passed. Then she paused. "What are you doing outside of Kirsten's door?"

"Your dad wanted me to tell her-"

"Oh God, Owen, don't start doing his bidding now."

"I wasn't," he defended, following her into her bedroom. "Can we go now?"

"Yes," she told him as she slipped his shoes on. "How long does it take to get to your aunt's house?"

"Hour and a half at most."

"Can we listen to my CDs?"

"If I made it."

"Bear-"

"We need to leave, Bell. Now." He went over to her stereo, sighing slightly. 'I'll grab a few of yours, okay? Just make sure they don't get mixed in with mine in the car. You may never find them."

"Don't I know it."

When they made it downstairs, they found her mother in the kitchen, making something. Annabel quickly headed in there as well making Owen hold down a groan. The girl knew nothing about being punctual.

"Mom, Owen and I are going to make a chocolate pie. Can you get the stuff for that?" she asked.

"Of course, sweetheart." Grace smiled at Owen and, even though it was forced, Owen admired her effort. "Is there anything special you want at Thanksgiving tomorrow, Owen?"

"Oh, no," he said, shaking head. "Whatever you guys make will be fine."

"We're making ham and turkey, so-"

"Both are fine with me," he assured her as Annabel got her jacket off the back of one of the kitchen chairs before rushing over to him.

"Bye, Mom. We'll be home for dinner," Annabel said, taking Owen's hand as she passed him. "Come on, Owen."

Oh, now she was rushing him? Sighing, he allowed her to pull him along, only stopping to slip on his boots and coat before they went out the door.

"The news said that it might snow tomorrow," Annabel told him as they headed over to the Land Cruiser.

"So I've heard," he muttered. "Tomorrow before I come over I have to swing by the hospital to see Mallory."

"I know, Bear."

"She's just so…bored." He shrugged slightly. "I gave her my old Gameboy, but-"

"What is that?"

He just groaned. "You slay me, you know that?"

"I really don't know what-"

"The point is that she's bored and alone. She and her friends aren't exactly-"

"Does she have an mp3 player?"

"No," he said slowly. "Why?"

Annabel took the little hammer out of the door on her side of the car before buckling herself in. She had been insistent on doing that recently. It was really cute to Owen usually. At the moment it was just annoying.

"What if I take your Ipod thingy and delete some of your music-"

"Annabel-"

"-and fill it with things that Mallory likes and then give it to her?"

"Why does my stuff have to be deleted?"

"Is there enough room for music for her?"

"I don't know."

"Owen-"

"Don't you have an Ipod you can give her?"

"No. I have a CD player, but I don't think she'll-"

"Great. Give her that."

"Owen-"

"I give up a lot for her," Owen told his girlfriend as he pulled out of the driveway. "Why do I have to give up my music too?"

"Don't you love her?"

"Not funny. Not in the fucking slightest."

"Calm down. It as just a suggestion. Don't give it to her. I don't really care." Annabel cross her arms as he slipped one of her CDs in. "I don't care hat you do, Owen, at all. Ever. So-"

"Don't start fighting with me before we get there. The last thing you want to do is come off as a bitch to my relatives."

"I'm not a bitch," she whispered, though she knew what he had said held some weight. This was the first time she would be meeting some of his family; she didn't want to come off in a bad light.

"I know you're not. You just…act that way sometimes."

"And you act like a jackass sometimes."

"A lot of the time," he readily admitted. "But I'm not going to be that today. I'm going to be the nice boyfriend, loving sibling of the girl that can't be here, the sociable son, and favorite grandson/nephew."

"It's not going to be vegan food, is it?" she asked after a moment.

"No, of course not. Ew."

"Is your mom the only one who-"

"Yeah, she is. Trust me, there'll be lots of meat."

"Oh. Good." Annabel's arms fell slightly. "So why are they all coming over today anyways?"

"Today's the day that my grandfather and his second wife come. Cam's mother. Then tomorrow Mom is going to drive down to see her mother."

"Oh. Are you…close to your grandfather's wife?"

"She's my other grandma, Annabel. She's always been there. I mean, God."

"I didn't know. Sorry."

Owen shrugged slightly. "I didn't get to see them a lot though, when I was kid. Now we live up here, near them."

"I didn't get to see my grandparents a lot," Annabel mumbled then, shifting in her seat. "Now they're dead."

"Dad's dad is dead," Owen told her then. "He's the one I got the goggles from. He was real old when I was a kid."

"I'm sorry."

"People die, Annabel."

"I know."

He let out a long sigh. "I just…"

"It's okay, Bear."

They rode in silence for awhile. Annabel just sat there, head against the window, watching out of the corner of her eyes. Owen for his part was counting the seconds until her stupid CD ended and they could listen to something at least tolerable.

"I didn't get a hangover," Annabel mentioned randomly at one point. "From yesterday."

"You weren't that drunk anyways."

"We should do that more often."

"Drink?"

"Hang out with Rolly," she corrected. "I feel bad for him sometimes."

"Yeah," Owen muttered, thinking of his friend that was no doubt still sleeping off another one of his parties. "I do too."

"He just seems so lonely."

"Rolly?"

"Yes," Annabel said, nodding her head slightly. "Lonely."

"I dunno about that, Bell."

"Well, I do."

"If you say so," Owen agreed, more not to start a fight than anything else.

"We should invite him to dinner tomorrow."

"What?"

"Yeah. Mom and Dad won't mind," Annabel said, pulling her phone out then, no doubt to text him. "His parents went and left him all alone. It's not fair."

"He could have gone," Owen pointed out. "He wanted to stay home and screw random drunk chicks that were dumb enough to show up at his parties."

"Owen."

"What?"

"You should be a better friend."

"Me?" He made a face. "What about you?"

"I am a good friend. I'm nice to Clarke, I pretend to like Rolly, and I love you. Nice friend."

"I tolerate Clarke, I get Rolly out of all the shit he causes, and I'd die for you. Nice friend."

"Psychotic friend."

"Annabel-"

"Truth hurts, Snoogie."

"That reminds me," he said then. "No calling me that when we get there."

"But Bear-"

"Or that. Owen. You will call me Owen."

"It's so hard though."

"I know."

Telling me that I can't just makes me want to do it even more. I always call you Bear. You're Bear. Bear."

"I know."

"Ooh, I know what." Annabel sat up some then, smiling over at him. Owen just kept staring at the road.

"What?"

"I'll call you Gavin."

"No."

"Owen-"

"No."

"Gavin." She giggled. "I love that name."

"Yeah, well, I don't."

"That's because you're no fun." Annabel shook her head. "Gavin. Owen Gavin Armstrong. I love that."

"Bella-"

"Gavin Is a better name than Owen. I don't know why you don't go by that. Gavin is a badass name a dark past and a motorcycle. Owen's a country boy from Mississippi that spent summers catching frogs down by the river."

"I'm not country."

"You're not a badass either."

"What's your middle name?"

"Dawn."

"What?" He laughed slightly. "Dawn. Annabel Dawn. That's cute."

"I feel like these are things we should have learned about each other months ago. God, we're about to have been together a year."

"Yeah, but it's funnier this way," Owen pointed out. "People that learn everything about each other get bored. You know?"

"I guess so."

"Besides, middle names aren't that important," he told her. "But know your favorite TV show ever is. And I will admit, Scooby Doo is awesome."

"It is."

"Now your second favorite ever, the Kardashians? That sucks."

"You're just a hater."

"As is the majority of the world."

"Don't follow the crowd, Bear."

"You can't call me that today."

She just let out a long sigh. "You really get to me sometimes."

"Also, no name calling while we're there."

"What?"

"Yeah. And no-"

"Owen, if you just didn't want me to go, that's all you freaking had to say."

"I just want this to go perfectly, Annabel."

"So basically you want me to lie about the person I am and be someone completely different."

"Not at all," Owen said, shaking his head slightly. "I love all of you. I just want them to get that chance too."

"By me being phony."

"Not calling me Bear is not you being phony, Annabel. It's just respectful to my wishes."

She just sat there then, staring straight ahead. Owen sighed, nudging the volume up on his stereo, figuring it was best to try and lose himself in her crappy pop music than duke it out with her.

"You know, Bell, this is very important to me," he said finally. "I want everyone to love you like I love you. You're important to me. One of the most important things in my life."

She paused for a moment. "Behind?"

"Mallory and music."

"I'm fine with one of those, but not the other."

"Annabel," he scolded. "You should know that my sister is more important to me."

"Owen-"

"I'd give up music for you," Owen said then.

"Liar."

"I would. For a whole day. If, like, your life was on the line or something."

"What kind of diabolical mastermind would make you choose between music and me?"

"An evil genius."

She giggled again finally, looking at him. "I don't want to embarrass you in front of your family, Owen."

"You couldn't," he assured her. "You're amazing. Far more astounding than anyone could have ever predicted for me."

"If you weren't driving I'd kiss you right now."

"Because what I said turned you on?"

"No," Annabel said slowly. "What you just said was silly and mushy."

"Then why-"

"Because astounding is a big word for you. I'm proud."

"I'm proud of you too."

"For?"

"Stuff."

"Owen-"

"The radio show," he said finally. "I know I wasn't nice about you getting it at first, but I just want you to know that I am really happy for you. Proud of you. You've done a good job. A spectacular job."

"Mmm. What exactly are you hoping to get out of all these words, mister?"

"Well, you know."

"God, it hasn't even been a week yet and you already think-"

"What can I say, baby, you're magic."

"Baby?"

"Bella. Whatever."

"Oh, B…Gavin."

"Gavin. You really like that? You're not just fucking with me?"

"Most certainly not," she said, nodding. "Gavin. That's going to be our first son's name."

"Who said I'm having sons with you?"

"Uh, you. Many times."

"We're not naming our kid something I don't like anyways," Owen said, readily giving into that.

"No, we are. Gavin. Gavin Greene."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. He's my son. Just like you'll be my husband. Owen Greene."

"You kid."

"I don't."

"I would never take your last name. You'll be taking mine."

"I'll be hyphening my name."

"That's such a dick thing to do."

"I'm shocked your mother didn't do that," she told him honestly. "As pro woman she is."

He shrugged slightly. "I still think it's a stupid thing to do."

"Greene-Armstrong. That sounds funny."

"'cause it's stupid."

"Our witty conversations get to me sometimes. Something I'll miss I suppose."

"Where are you going that we can't have witty conversations?" Owen frowned over at her. "We're going to talk on the phone, like, everyday. And sexting is a big thing these days, Ann-"

"No."

"Well, you're a spoilsport."

"You're not getting a kiss for that one," she told him.

"I didn't do it for the kiss. I did it because I'm truthful."

"Oh whatever."

* * *

"You've never learned how to play dominoes?"

"I'm sorry," Annabel said with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "I only have sisters."

"Girls can play dominoes," the ten year old reasoned. "They're just no good at them."

"Oh," she said while Owen rolled his eyes.

"Play nice, Jesse," Owen told his cousin who just sent him a death glare. "I'm serious. Annabel is my girlfriend. If she doesn't know how to play that game, maybe we should play another."

Groaning, the boy jumped off his aunt's guest bed, going over to the closet. Being a single woman, Camille didn't have a lot of board games, but since Mallory had gotten sick, she'd bought a few.

"Can we play Battleship?"

"Not everyone can play that game, buddy," Owen told him, making the other boy groan. Kelly, Owen's other cousin, giggled from Annabel's lap. She was three and had immediately attached herself to the older girl.

"How come we can't just play outside?" Val asked. She was Owen's mother's something. Life was complicated enough without figuring all that stuff out. She used to be pretty nice and sweet, but since she turned eleven she had been a monster and Owen wanted nothing more than to get rid of her. "I don't want to play a stupid board game."

"It's cold out and your mom said you just got over being sick," Owen told her. He was sitting at the desk, mostly mediating between the children. Typically at these family things Owen would spend all his time with the adults, listening to me talk and argue. Annabel though seemed to rather be around the children which was fine, really…for her.

"You're stupid, Owen."

He just rolled his eyes and let out a long sigh. Annabel smiled over at him before looking down at the girl in her lap.

"What do you wanna play, Kelly?" she asked her, but the girl just giggled, cuddling back into Annabel.

"Aunt Cam burnt the sweet potatoes," announced another child as he came into the room with a girl.

"Can you do that?" Jesse asked as he pulled the Monopoly box down from the top shelf.

"Apparently," the girl that had come in said. "Ooh, we're playing Monopoly?"

"I'm not," Owen told them all.

"No one wants you to play, Owen, because you're stupid," Val told him, going to get on the bed also. Annabel smiled at her boyfriend again, but he just shook his head.

"Stupid is a bad word," the girl that had just come in, Terra, told Val as she went to pick her piece for Monopoly.

"You're stupid too."

"Hey, knock it off now," Owen said, frowning. "You want me to go tell your mom?"

"Tattletale," Val mumbled, glaring at him.

"Which do you wanna be, Kelly?" Annabel asked the little girl. "Huh?"

"Dis one." She grabbed the racecar, giggling.

"Okay," Annabel said, taking it from her as the girl tried to put it in her mouth. "We put it on the board, not in our mouths. You know that."

"Annabel," the girl giggled, cuddling into her again.

"I'll be back," Owen said then, standing up. "Okay, Bella?"

"Mmmhmm," she said, distracted as she helped Jesse figure out how to be banker.

Groaning to let his displeasure be known, Owen got up and left the room, no one really taking much notice in it. Whatever. He didn't really want to be around any of them anyway. Except Annabel. She was always the one exception.

"When's food?"

"Go away," Cam said, batting at his head when he came into the kitchen.

"I'm hungry," he complained, standing behind her in the kitchen. "I was told to show up at noon. I did. Where's my food?"

"God, you're like a little boy," the woman complained.

"There's this, Owen," his mother called from the kitchen table. "If you're hungry."

He took one look at the vegetable platter before looking back at his aunt. "Yeah, I'm gonna need food soon. Real food."

"God, go be with your girlfriend. Isn't that why you brought her?"

"She's playing Monopoly with the kids," Owen told her. "That's boring."

"You know what that's called, Owen? Being a good person. Right now she's being a better person than you. Do you understand that?"

"I don't care," he said as another one of his aunt's came into the room. "Can I make sandwich?"

"We're eating in, like, an hour."

"So yes sandwich or no?"

"Whatever. Just get out of the way."

Well, wasn't she rude? Still, mission accomplished. Whistling after he had made his snack, Owen took it outside to eat. All of his male relatives were in the living room, watching something dumb on TV. The last thing he wanted to d was hear them talk.

While has eating in his car and listening to music, Owen got a phone call. Usually he would ignore it, but it was Rolly. Even more reason to ignore it, right? Still, they had been on good terms the past few days and he didn't want to screw that up. Sighing, he turned down his music before answering the phone.

"Hello?"

"So are you and Annabel still together or is she trying to get it in with me?"

"Repeat yourself and be very careful because I am not against murder."

"She text me and I asked if I wanted to come to Thanksgiving dinner."

"Yeah, as a freaking friend," Owen said, frowning. "Are you that dense? I'm going to."

"So I'm not going to be hooking up with her afterwards?"

"Watch your mouth."

"And I take it from that that you're not going to be either."

"Seriously, Rolly, knock it off."

"Where are you today anyways, bro? I'm so bored."

"I told you, I went to Cam's house."

"For?"

"Some of my family came over. We're eating."

"And you didn't invite me?"

"You just got invited to freaking Annabel's house and thought that she wanted to hook up."

"I would invite you to my house for dinner, Owen."

"And?" The teen shook his head slightly. "Where are you anyways?"

"At home, watching TV. Smoking. Eating Doritos. The usual."

"Right."

"Thinking about life, love, fucking your girlfriend."

"Dude, you're seriously about to get it."

"I'm kidding," Rolly insisted. "Although, she does seem pretty fuckable."

"That is not a thing and Annabel is not that thing."

"Fuckable is a thing, but if you thought it wasn't a thing, how could you tell me that Annabel's not it?"

"What does that even mean? Fuckable?"

"She just has that body, you know? And that really sweet face." Rolly inhaled something deeply and noisily on the other end of the phone which only pissed his friend off even more. "She'd like being fucked. Really fucked. Not whatever the hell you've been doing to her."

"Shut up."

"You've just got to do it, bro. Fuck her. Stop screwing around. Get it over with. If you had just done that to begin with instead of all this kindness garb. Then you guys would have been having sex for almost a year now and you'd be onto greater things."

"Uh, Rolly, compared to the handjobs, sex is the greater thing."

"I meant blows and all this other shit. Instead, you have her thinking that you're all interested in her needs and shit. God."

"I am."

"You kill me, bro."

"Annabel isn't just one of your girlfriends, Rolly, that you'll date for a few months. I'm with her because I want to be with her, not because I want something out of her." Owen was really containing himself, honestly he was. He wanted to get upset with Rolly, but knew if he did his anger would show to the others when he went back inside. "And if you ever talk about her like that again, you'll have more to worry about than just making me angry."

"Bro?"

"And fuck you. Really and truly."

After hanging up, Owen quickly finished his sandwich before heading back into the house. Not even bothering with any of his family, he immediately headed to the guest bedroom.

"You move four. Can you count four?"

"You count."

"You want me to count for you?" Annabel was saying as she moved her and Kelly's piece across the board. "One, two, three, four."

The youngest of them all giggled while Val just yelled out that it was her turn before grabbing the dice. Owen stood there for a moment before closing the door behind him and heading over to the bed.

"Sorry, Owen," Annabel told him. "It's too late. You can't play."

"I don't want to play," he told her simply as he leaned down to kiss her. This of course sent the other children in the room into a frenzy, making this disgusted noises like most kids do.

Fuckable. There was no way that was a thing…was there?

* * *

"Do you like gravy that much?"

"Yes," Owen told Annabel, covering all his food in it. "And ketchup."

"You are not pouring ketchup all over that."

"I'm not pouring it, Annabel. You don't pour ketchup. You drizzle it heavily."

"You know," his mother spoke up from next to Owen. They were all in the kitchen, getting their food. "Ketchup isn't good for you."

Annabel frowned. "It has animal stuff in it?"

"Oh, no, vegans can eat it," Owen's mother assured her. "I just don't believe in using commercially processed food."

"In other words, you never eat anything good," Cam spoke up from the counter where she was getting some dressing. "I mean honestly, Teresa."

Owen just continued to cover his food in ketchup, at peace for once. It was obvious to both him and his mother that his sister was noticeably absent and had been all day. Still, food was a good distracter for Owen. A great distracter really.

Once they were seated at the dining room table, Owen completely zoned out of everything. Part of him was secretly afraid that Annabel would want him to eat at the kids table, as Kelly had begged for her to sit over there. Still, Annabel seemed to pick up on him wanting to be at the dining table with the adults and gave into him.

"Don't eat so fast," Annabel mumbled to him, elbowing him in the side gently.

Letting out a long sigh, he shifted in his seat to glance at her. "Happy?"

"Don't make me elbow you harder."

Reaching one hand under the table, Owen rested it on his girlfriend's thigh, squeezing slightly. Annabel shifted slightly, but didn't make him remove it. Owen took that as a good sign as he stroked up and down her thigh, using his other hand to get back to eating.

Fuckable. Seriously, who comes up with that shit? Fuckable. Fuckable. Annabel. Fuckable. Fuckable Annabel. Annabel is-

"So, Annabel, how long have you and Owen been dating again?"

He frowned, looking up at his grandmother. Why was she interrupting his thoughts? He couldn't think of fuckable things when his grandmother was speaking. Ha. Fuckable thoughts. Like Annabel.

…He was really coming around to the idea. Just minus Rolly.

"A year in December," she told them woman, smiling at her. Owen was still scowling slightly, but he couldn't help it. Rolly was really onto something. Like in porn. There were girls in porn that weren't really cut out for it, but it made it more real. Then there were ones that were made to be porn stars. Fuckable girls.

…Wait…Did that mean…

"I'll be right back." Owen jumped up suddenly, causing Annabel to frown at him.

"Where are you going, Owen?" his mother called after him as he headed towards the front door.

"I have to call someone," he told her, knowing that she would assume it was his sister. He was really cutting it close to lying these days.

"Hello?"

"You were calling Annabel a slut."

"Hello to you," Rolly repeated back. "And no, I wasn't. She's far from it."

"Fuckable? Fuckable? Really? That's not being a whore?"

"Whore, slut, fuckable. You really need to learn the difference between all of these things." Rolly let out a long sigh. "I mean really, bro. It's a compliment to say that you have a fuckable girlfriend."

"What exactly does that mean to you? In complete honesty?"

"That I could fuck her. God, how many different ways do you want me to say it?"

"It just…bothers me."

"Everything bothers you," Rolly reasoned. "Besides, I don't think Annabel's into me."

"She's not," Owen said with force. It was really cold out there and he was starting to regret going out there in the first place. "At all."

"Alright. Whatever. Fuckable is a good quality though, Owen, now that the two of you are, you know, doing it."

"Doing it."

"Yeah." Rolly snickered. "Fuckability is an important quality in a chick. You got one with it right out of the box. That's great. Owen. I don't know why you're so apprehensive about it."

"Annabel's not a slut."

"Fine. Alright. Is that all you wanted?"

"I want you to stop saying that she's…fuckable."

"Alright. Annabel is not fuckable. At all. That all you needed?" When he didn't respond, Rolly just said, "Great. See you tomorrow at dinner, buddy."

When he got back to the dining room, Annabel was talking to his grandfather about something. Cam looked the most relieved to see him return, but that was probably because she thought he could get his girlfriend to shut up. Owen had never quite understood Camille's hatred of Annabel, but it was stating to get to him. Maybe more than the fuckable thing.

…Nah.

"You call your dad?" Owen's mother asked as he sat down. "He's with Mallory."

"No," Owen said simply as Annabel smiled at him. "I just had to take care of something."

His mother had to leave it at that when her stepmother spoke to her. Annabel just smiled at Owen as he rested his hand on her thigh again.

"What were you really doing?" she asked him in a hushed tone.

"Talking to Rolly," he mumbled to her, getting back into his food.

"About?"

"You."

"Me?"

"You."

"You're so full of it."

Owen just shrugged. "You know you're the center of all my conversations."

"All of them?"

He squeezed her thigh softly. "All of them."

* * *

"It's so cold."

"It's snowing," Owen pointed out, wrapping an arm around Annabel's shoulders.

"Doesn't change the fact that it's cold."

He just sighed, kissing the side of her head. "I have to go home soon."

"You have to wait for the pie to finish baking."

"Why do I have to wait for that?"

"Because I told you to."

The two of them were standing in front of the glass backdoor, looking out into the backyard at the snow falling. Snow seemed to fascinate Annabel for some reason, but Owen was kind of over it. When it snowed in the south, it was great, interesting. When it snowed up north it was kind of like, wow, exactly what happened the year before happened again. Shut the fuck up about it

"I want to get home before it gets too bad," he told her. "Unless your plan is to trap me over here."

"Certainly."

"I like that plan."

"Me too."

"I don't think your parents will be down for it though."

"Probably not."

"So I should go."

"Fine," Annabel groaned, leaning up to kiss his cheek. "Ooh, don't forget to bring me your Ipod tomorrow."

"To bring to Mallory, right?"

"Yes."

"I'm still not sold on this idea."

"You're just not very good at conforming."

"I think that's a good thing." He kissed her that time, lingering for a moment before taking a step back. "Let me go get my boots and leave."

Annabel still held onto his arm. "Will you call me when you get home?"

"Most definitely."

"Fine," she groaned, releasing him then though she still followed behind him to the front door. It felt like they had just gotten home from his aunt's, though they had in reality been over three hours. It was almost ten by that point and Owen just really wanted to get home and go to bed. It had been a long day after all.

"I'd walk you to the car, but-"

"It's cold, Bell," Owen told her as he grabbed his coat off the rack by the door. "You stay here."

Reaching out, she pulled him in for a hug, making his laugh slightly. He knew though that her sister, future brother-in-law, mother, and father were all lurking somewhere in the house and that their time alone was long passed.

"I'll miss you," she mumbled against his chest. Owen just kissed her head one more time before pulling his hat down a little tighter on his head. He didn't like the cold after all.

"I'll call you when I get home," he promised as she let him go. "What time should I come over in the morning?"

"Whenever. We don't eat until, like, five or six in the afternoon so it really just depends on how much time you want to spend together."

"A lot," he assured her before opening the front door. "Bella."

"Bear."

The second the door was closed behind him, Owen started shivering. Cold was his worst enemy. You know, right behind Rolly at the moment.

Fuckable. Seriously?

When Owen got home he found his mother waiting up for him in the living room. He knew that she had been lonely recently, what with him being gone so much and Mallory being sick. Part of him felt bad for her being alone constantly, but the other part him was totally into Annabel and couldn't be held down.

"Today was a good day," his mother told him as he took his boots off my the door and put his coat on the rack. "Did your girlfriend have fun?"

"I think, yeah."

"The little ones really liked her."

"Yeah."

"So anyways, you're not going with me to Grandma's tomorrow, are you?"

"No. I'm eating at Annabel's."

His mother sighed slightly. "I figured as much."

"She invited me, Mom."

"I didn't say it was a bad thing, dear." She smiled at him slightly. The only light in the room was coming from the television, but it was just on the news. "You know that your father's leaving Friday."

"I'm aware."

"Did the two of you have your…talk?"

He frowned at her then, standing in front of the television. "Mom, if you wanted me to leave or think that I'm taking up too much space in the house-"

"I didn't tell him that."

"He said that I'm a bother to you and-"

"He's twisting my words, Owen." She stood then too, staring at him. "I just thought that perhaps you would like such an option. You don't, that's fine."

"I don't want to go live in Arizona. Not without Annabel."

"And that's fine. You know that I'm not going to kick you out, Owen. Would I rather you go to college? Completely."

"Mom-"

"But I love you. And I know that you're going to do what you want with your life. That's what it's about, Owen, life is. Figuring out what you want to do with it. Your father thinks that we can just work this out of you until you want to go to college, but I know it doesn't work that way. This is your life, not ours. So as long as you're working, you're welcome here. Alright?"

He just nodded, not sure what else to say.

"Alright," she said then, moving forward to cup the back of his neck. Then, pulling him forwards, she kissed his head. "Go to bed. You've got to get up early in the morning, huh?"

"Yeah."

"You can take one of the dishes from tonight over to there tomorrow if you want."

"I don't think I can bring leftovers."

"Why not?"

"Mom, they're, like, rich."

"They're not rich, Owen."

"Compared to us. Her mom doesn't even have to work. Only when she wants to. And they have a pool. And a two story house."

"We have a-"

"Not our kind of two story house, Mom. Not a 'Oh, out of space, make a second floor' kind of two story. They have tons of space down there and tons up there." He stared at her. "I don't think you understand how different they are from us."

"I think you're exaggerating, honey."

"I think you don't know them like I do."

"That could be because I've never met them."

He shrugged. "Why would you?"

She just sighed, staring at him. "If you don't want to bring anything, that's fine, Owen. I doubt that they'll hate on you for bringing leftovers."

"They won't, no, but they'll look down on me."

"More so than if you bring nothing at all?"

"Yes."

"Then maybe you should think more about who you're spending all your time with." She patted his cheek then. "Now go to bed. I was serious about that."

"They're not snooty, Mom."

"I know. You're just exaggerating, like I said."

"But-"

"Go. Goodnight. I love you."

Owen wanted to stay and explain to her what he had meant, but knew that Annabel was waiting on his call. Shaking his head as he turned to head towards his room, he called over his shoulder, "I love you too."

* * *

"Wow, your chick's family is cool."

"Shut up, Rolly."

"They are."

"Speak for yourself, kid."

Owen and Rolly frowned as they were joined in the living room by Brian. Annabel was with her sisters in the kitchen and Drew had been sent the store or something. Owen wasn't too sure. He and Rolly had been enjoying football, but apparently they were going to have to do it in the company of someone else.

"I like the Mrs. Greene," Owen told Brian, hardly looking at him as the guy sat on the other end of the couch. Rolly, who was in between the two of them, smiled. He always like d a good argument.

"I wasn't talking about her," Brian said simply, reaching forwards to grab the bowl of Cheetos off the coffee table. "Talking about Andrew."

"Man, you guys must be cool. Most of my girlfriends' fathers hate it when I call them by name," Rolly said, nodding.

"I'm not a little boy like the two of you."

Owen frowned. "You know, you did get his daughter pregnant. Not to mention you secretly lived in an apartment that he was paying for. So maybe it's not all his fault."

"Don't play," Brian told him. "I've heard enough about how the two of you don't get along."

"I didn't get Annabel pregnant. The way I see it, you're way worse off than me."

"For now."

Glaring over at Brian, Owen thought of all the things he could say that the guy. Then Annabel had to go and call his name from the kitchen.

"Coming," he called back causing Rolly to snicker.

"Whipped," he whispered to his friend, but Owen just jumped up to find out what his girlfriend wanted.

"What'd you want, Annabel?" he asked as he made it in there.

"I wanted to give you this." She was sitting at the kitchen table, never the cook of the family, her laptop in front of her. She waved his Ipod at him. "I made a list of the things I deleted to, so-"

"Thanks," he said, going to take it from her. "Are you sure Mallory will-"

"Like the music? Duh." She rolled her eyes as he came to stand in front of her. "When are you going to see her?"

"Probably tomorrow."

"Don't you work tomorrow too?"

"I do," he told her, slipping his music player back in his pocket.

"So we won't see each other at all?"

"We spent how many days together this week?"

"You sound clingy, Annabel," Kirsten chided from over by the counter were she was chopping something up.

"Really clingy," Whitney agreed.

"Leave your sister alone," Grace told them both while Annabel just resorted to sending them nasty looks over her shoulder.

"You want to come watch TV with us?" Owen asked her then. "Now that you're done?"

"I'm clearly helping in here, Owen."

"Clearly." He held out his hand, waiting for her to take it. The second she did, he pulled her up before taking her into the living room with him.

"Annabel," Rolly said as she came into the room. "I was just telling Brad here how much I like your folks."

"Brian," the older man said, glaring at the teen.

"Whatever."

Annabel just smiled at Owen as she went to sit in the chair, leaving him with the couch. Making a face, he went to reclaim his spot. Stupid Rolly and Brian, running everything.

"Do you guys really want to watch football?" Annabel asked after a moment.

"Yes."

"Kind of."

"Not really."

Sighing, Annabel shifted in the chair. Thanksgiving was turning out to be a bust for both she and Owen. Then again, there was always the chance that her father and Brian might get into one last fight before the night was over. That was always a plus. For her anyways.

It wasn't until it was finally time to eat that they all got to find out the nagging question; Would Andrew kick his future son-in-law out of the house? Owen was leaning towards yes, but then again, he had was still kind of happy about spending a holiday with Annabel. The first of many, he liked to think.

"Thank you guys so much for letting me come over for dinner," Rolly told them, looking in turn at each person at the table. When he looked at Owen and Annabel, who were sitting across from him, he winked, making Annabel giggle and Owen about gag. It wasn't fair. How did his ditzy friend get invited to this?

"Of course…uh…um…"

"Rolly."

"Right," Andrew said, nodding his head. Annabel sent him a glare, but honestly, who named their kid Rolly anyways?

"So kids," Grace spoke then, smiling over at Kirsten and Brian. "Have we picked a final date yet?"

"It's Thanksgiving," Andrew said before his daughter could speak. "I don't want to talk about things like that."

"Drew-"

"Whitney, tell us about you."

She frowned at her father. "Why?"

"You never talk about yourself," he reasoned. "How has apartment life gone?"

"Fine."

"And you're good there? All alone?"

"Perfect."

"Have you made any friends at work? Around the apartment complex?"

"Plenty."

"Well, that's great," Mr. Greene said, nodding. "And work's been good?"

"Great."

"Great. See, Grace? We should focus more on Whitney."

"Dad-"

"Drew-"

"What?" He smiled at Whitney. "Moving out might have been the best thing for you. Others however-"

"Drew, don't do this today. Alright?" Grace gestured to Rolly and Owen. "We have guests."

"Guests. Guest. We have plenty of guests."

"What does that even mean?"

"I need a beer," he told her simply as he stood.

"I'll take one too."

Drew turned his eyes on Rolly before onto Annabel. "This one, I like."

"So yes?" Rolly asked.

"No."

The second her father was gone, Kirsten spoke.

"If he's going to be like that, Mom-"

"It's one more day, Kirsten," she told her daughter. "One more dinner. And then you probably won't see him until your wedding. Since apparently you're not going to be coming to Christmas."

"What motivation do I have to ever come back here when he acts like-"

"I know, sweetheart."

Elbowing Annabel gently in the side, Owen whispered, "Do they plan to make things awkward when I come over?"

"Shhh." She smiled at him before looking at Rolly. "When are your parents getting back in town?"

You would have thought that Rolly would have been the most awkward as he was the most out of the family circle. You would have thought.

"Saturday."

"They sure did get a lot of time off work," Annabel said.

"Oh, Dad's an author. And Mom's a painter. So they can do whatever they want, really."

"Mmmm."

"They left you all alone?" Mrs. Green asked then, frowning over at him. "Rolly?"

"Well, yeah," he admitted. "They're real cool about that kinda stuff."

"You leave me home alone, Mom," Annabel said.

"For a weekend. How long have you been alone, Rolly?"

"Mmmm…since Friday."

"And no one's checked in on you?"

"Mom," Annabel groaned.

"I'm just curious."

"No ma'am," he said, shaking his head. "It's not so bad. I am seventeen."

It was then that Andrew came back, bringing the tension along with him. Owen took to playing footsie with Annabel under the table, which was always fun. Always.

"I don't think I've been to your apartment in awhile, Whitney," her father said then. "Furnished now?"

"Yep," she said, still not making eye contact. Owen chalked that up to that secret boyfriend Annabel had told him about.

"I should come by and-"

"It's really a far drive, Dad," Whitney said then.

"To see my daughter?"

"You see me all the time."

"You hiding something over there, dear?" Grace asked then, glancing at her. "A secret drug ring? Human trafficking scheme?"

Whitney rolled her eyes heavily. "Nothing that extreme."

See? This is the whole reason Owen was all for honesty. Whitney was grown. Why couldn't she just tell her parents she was dating? It wasn't that hard of a thing to do. God, the first time Owen met Annabel's family was after kissing her in front of a fountain at the conclusion of a trial for a guy that tried to rape her. You don't get more awkward than that.

"You hiding a secret child than? A husband?"

"Nothing. I'm not hiding anything."

Her mother wasn't playing around anymore and they could all tell by the way she was looking at her. Owen almost wanted to just announce to them all about that guy she was seeing. Sheesh. It wasn't that big of a deal. Annabel's family blew everything out of proportion. His sister was dying Seriously dying. Yet they thought Kirsten being pregnant and getting married was an issue. That Whitney being secretive was an issue. It got to him sometimes.

"Hey, Dad, do you think it snowed enough for a snowman?"

Everyone frowned when Annabel spoke. Except for Rolly. He always seemed to be happy.

"I-I don't know, Annabel," he said then, still staring at her. "Why?"

"I was just wondering."

"I'm sure it will before winter is over," he assured her. "But-"

"I just think it'd be fun for us all to build a snowman."

"No," Whitney said then. "It wouldn't be."

"You're just no fun," Annabel told her. "We used to build snowmen."

"When we were kids."

"Kirsten needs to tap into her inner kid," Annabel said causing both her sisters to glare at her. "What? You are having one, you know."

"Yeah, I know," her oldest sister said, reaching for her water glass. "It's kind of hard to forget."

"Snowmen are fun," Rolly said then, nodding his head. "Of course, snow is fun. A lot of fun. I-"

"Okay, shut up."

"Owen." Annabel elbowed him. "Knock it off. He can talk."

"Don't elbow me."

"Quit being a baby, Gavin."

"Ooh," Kirsten immediately set to mocking. "Name slip?"

"It's his freaking middle name," Annabel told her, frowning. "God."

"Knock it off," Grace said, giving her oldest a look.

Owen just went back to his food, deciding to let the whole Gavin thing pass. It was better than Bear. Or dinky. He really hated dinky. Not that he was a hundred percent on its meaning or anything. It just sounded demeaning.

"Mmm, that's work," Brian said suddenly as his phone buzzed. "I'll be right back."

Owen hated the other guy then, knowing he could never pull that off. Who orders a pizza on Thanksgiving?

"You guys sure cook real well," Rolly was saying then, smiling at Mrs. Greene. "Like real well. Mom doesn't cook much. Or Dad. Or me. Or my brother."

"You have a brother?" Annabel asked, frowning.

"Mmmhmm," the teen said with a nod. "He's older than me though."

"Oh."

"He lives in California. The big apple."

"Rol-"

"Just let it go," Andrew cut his wife off, shaking his head. "Just let go."

* * *

"Man, Annabel's family's awesome! How come we don't go over there more often?"

"I do," Owen told his friend as they drove down the road, heading towards Rolly's place. "You don't need to be though."

"Her dad's cool and her mom's cool and her sisters are hot and that other guy is cool." Rolly let out a long whistle. "But that one really is hot. What's her name? Whitney? Oh yeah. She's the vomitter right?"

"Dude."

"What? She is. We're alone."

"That's not cool."

"Nothing's cool with you ever," the other teen said, shaking his head. "You said she's with a guy, right?"

"Yeah."

"Man, I'd take her."

"Rolly-"

"She's hot. Hotter than Annabel and that other one, the pregnant one."

"Annabel is the hottest sister."

"Uh-huh, sure," Rolly said, shaking his head. "Hottest. Whatever."

"You called her fuckable."

"All freaking three of them are fuckable. I'd do just about anything to any of them."

"You're sick."

"You're in denial."

"I'm in love."

"Love is denial. Love is not seeing things for what they are." Rolly shrugged. "Still though, it's no real argument. Whitney is the hottest. And she has that mysterious vibe to her."

"I thought you weren't into white girls?"

"I'm not," he told his friend. "But there's an exception to every rule, my friend."

"Or you just have no backbone and can't even follow your own guidelines."

"Or that," Rolly agreed. "Yeah, probably that one."

"I figured."


	5. Chapter 5

Winter Freeze

Chapter 5

"Who's the baby?"

Annabel didn't look up as Owen walked into the kitchen. "This is Ricky."

"Whose kid though?"

"He's the Biscoe's grandson."

"Who?"

"You don't know them, I'm sure," she told him, continuing to stand over the baby carrier and wave the toy in the baby's face. "They live in the Arbors though. Mom and Dad are friends with them. Sort of. They go to their parties a lot. Dad's built a few houses that Mrs. Biscoe's sold. She's a realtor."

"Oh." He went over to her fridge to get a coke. "So…what's the kid doing here?"

"I'm babysitting."

"Why?"

"Because, Owen, I was asked to. And it's rude, you know, to just go in other people's refrigerators like it's nothing."

"You're not just people. You're my girlfriend."

"Hmmm."

"Your mom let me in on her way out," he told her then. "She was heading to the store she said. Asked me what I wanted for dinner."

Annabel frowned. "She asked you?"

"Yeah," he said, nodding his head. "Asked if I was staying and when I said if I could I would, she asked me what I wanted. I told her whatever was fine, but then she asked me if I wanted fish or steak. She was real serious about it to. I just told her fish would be fine."

"Ew. You're so dumb."

"What?"

"Steak is way better than fish."

"To you."

"Bear-"

"I was trying to go with what was cheapest."

"Mom doesn't care about cheap. If you'd asked for steak-"

"I want fish."

The baby let out a loud yawn causing Annabel to coo at it. Rolling his eyes, Owen went to sit down at the table.

"How long are you keeping the baby?"

"Until seven."

"That long?" Frowning over at her, he asked, "Do you know his parents?"

"Of course. Everyone does."

"What do you mean?"

"Rogerson Biscoe's his father," Annabel told him.

"I don't know who that is."

"He sells pot to, like, everyone."

"I don't do that, so-"

"Then everyone knows about what happened a few years back."

"What happened?"

"Come on, Owen, even you should-"

"I don't."

"Rogerson beat the crap out of his girlfriend and her parents found out. Made a big deal of it and everything."

"Really?"

"Mmmhmm. Whitney knows her." Annabel finally turned from the baby to look at her boyfriend. "They're back together now though."

"Really?"

"Mmmhmm. That's whose baby this is."

"Damn."

"Don't curse in front of the baby."

He made a face at her. The whole reason he had come over was because it was one of his off days. About a week since Thanksgiving, things had gone pretty smoothly between the two of them so far. Then again, that was before the baby got added into the mix…

"This sucks," he complained then. "Both your parents are out. When I was invited over, I thought that we'd be…you know."

"I know what?"

"Like, messing around or whatever."

It was his turn to get a face made at him. "Owen."

"I did."

It had been over a week since their first time now. Coming up on two weeks in fact. And even less time since their second time. It wasn't like since she gave it to him twice in that one week that Owen thought that was going to be the norm or anything…but she's the one that started it. Now he'd just like her to continue it.

"I just don't…"

"Don't…?"

"Want to."

He blinked. "Oh."

"Not that I don't want you, Bear-"

"Of course not."

"I just don't want to have sex. Like real sex." She bit her lip, staring at him. "I don't…like it."

"Okay."

"I'm not-"

"You don't have to explain it to me." Owen was focused on his phone at that point, not able to meet her eyes either. "If you don't want to, you don't want to. I'm fine with, you know, just going back to what we did before."

"No, you're not."

"Bell, I'm not a liar." He smiled at her finally. "You should know that."

"I do."

"I love you," he told me. "I'm not going to force you or some shit."

"No cursing," she reminded.

"Oh, but we can talk about having sex?"

Again with the lip bite. That came to an abrupt end though as the baby began to whine softly.

"Uh-oh." She turned then back to the child, slowly lifting him from his carrier. "He doesn't smell."

"Maybe he's hungry."

"Well, here."

Owen frowned as she moved to go hand him the baby. "I don't-"

"You take care of your younger cousins. You've told me that before. You know more about babies than I do."

That was true. Still, Owen didn't really care for babies. Especially one he didn't know. "I don't-"

"Just for a minute," she reasoned. "While I make his bottle."

Owen frowned when the child was set in his lap. "How old is he?"

"A little over a year, I think."

"Can he talk?"

"He keeps asking for his mother. Or he keeps saying something that sounds like mama."

"Does he…live with her?"

"Mmmhmm." Annabel had gone over to the diaper bag then. "He was supposed to be with his grandmother today, but something came up with one of the houses she was selling."

"Are they nice? His grandparents?"

She hesitated and he noticed. "They're friendly to me. Kirsten knew Rogerson better than I do though. She told me once that his dad's a prick."

"And this Rogerson guy…he's…"

"I just told you he beat his girlfriend. Or he used to. I don't know if he still does. I guess he must be pretty nice if she got back with him and had a baby with him. I've only met him a few times, at his parents parties and things. I think Kirsten hooked up with him once or twice."

"It's not like that's an exclusive list."

"Owen."

"Honesty."

"Rudeness."

He just looked down at the baby in his lap who was still whining. Sighing, Owen shifted to bounce the kid slightly, hoping to calm him down.

"Do you know his mother than?"

Annabel shrugged. "I told you, Whitney knew her better. Caitlin. I've met her, of course. She's nice. Ricky lives with her parents, I think Mom said. I want to say she goes to the community college two town over."

"Bleh."

"What?" Annabel asked with a frown.

"Dad wants me to go there."

"You should. Until you figure out what you want to do."

"I don't want to do anything, Annabel."

"That's my point, Bear."

He just kept staring down at the little boy in his arms who was now sucking on his thumb. "He's not an ugly baby. A lot of babies are ugly."

"Owen."

"They are." He shook his head. "People are always say how cute babies are, but they normally aren't. Ugly would be a good word for them."

"Would you tell me then, if I had an ugly baby?"

"Would it be my baby?"

"Would it matter?"

He didn't much like the thought recently, of having a baby. It was kinda scary, really. "I suppose not. Honesty is honesty."

"Then you would tell me?"

"I've told you before, Annabel, that I'm not mean with my honesty. If you asked me if the baby was cute and it wasn't, I would say no. If it was mine, I would still care about it. It'd be mine. But if it's an ugly kid, hey, it's an ugly kid."

"When it's our kid though, you'll automatically think it's cute. You'll be blinded by love."

The thought made his head hurt. It really did. "I doubt that."

She just shook her head as she came over to him, a bottle now prepared for the baby. Ricky was old enough to take the bottle from her and hold it himself, which both teens were glad for.

"So what do we do with him now?" Owen asked. "Other than, you know, pray he doesn't pee or poop on our watch."

"Just make sure he's happy, I guess. I don't do much babysitting."

Owen looked down at the little boy who was fully focused on drinking from his bottle. "Does he have any toys in that bag?"

"Yeah. I figured I'd put him down on the living room floor so he could play with them. Then we can watch TV."

"I don't wanna watch TV."

"Then what do you want to do, Owen?"

"I told you what I wanted to do."

"Well, that's out now, so pick something else."

"Can we at least make out?"

"God, you're like a dog now."

He just stared at her. "Can I play videogames?"

"You don't have any over here."

"Your laptop."

Shrugging, she said, "I guess. If you want."

"Cool. Take the kid."

She made a face as he handed the baby off before jumping up. "Again, rude."

"Can I go get your laptop?"

"Bring it down here with the charger," she sighed as he headed off up the stairs. "Dinky."

He ignored that, not feeling like getting into it over something so silly. While in her bedroom though, he did take a moment or two to look for a specific jacket she had borrowed, as it was one of his heavier ones and there was supposed to be snow in the coming days. By the time he got down the stairs, he found Annabel had settled the baby on the living room floor, some of his toys splayed out in front of him.

"Took you long enough," Annabel said as he took his place next to her on the couch, careful not to step on the baby or his toys.

"I was looking for one of my jackets."

"Which one?"

"That red one that's kinda heavy, but not a coat. It's gonna be cold the next few-"

"It's in my car, which Whitney has." She shook her head at him. "She'll be here tomorrow. I'll get it then. Is that okay?"

"That's perfect." He smiled at her. "You're perfect."

She shifted up to him, leaning heavily against his arm. "Do you think I'm getting too fat?"

"What?"

"I don't work out at all anymore it feels like. And recently-"

"Bella, if you wanted me to compliment you, all you had to do was ask."

"I don't want you to."

"You're clearly fishing for compliments."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"I'm not, Owen."

"I hate when chicks do that."

"I'm not just some chick."

"When they say that their fat or something when they know their not," he went on, not listening to her. "Like God, ooh, you gained, what, a pound? If that?"

"Quit being a dick."

"I thought we couldn't talk that way in front of the baby?"

"Shut up."

He just sighed as she sat up, moving away from him. Whatever though. She offended so easily. She was the one acting that way. Not him. Everything wasn't his fault. It wasn't.

Still, after ten minutes, Owen got bored of just playing games. Not bored as much as missing the feeling of Annabel leaning against him. Though he knew he had done nothing wrong, he knew it would take Annabel at least an hour before she started to come around to him again. She could hold a grudge over the silliest of things.

Scooting over closer to his girlfriend, he pushed her foot with his own. She just scooted even further away, shooting him a look. Owen just stared at her though.

"I'm cold," he defended.

"The heats on."

"Not hot enough for me," he told her. That was truth too. It was far too cold for him up North.

"Well, tough luck."

"You're not a very caring girlfriend these days."

"You just insulted me."

"I did not. You were fishing for-"

"I wasn't!"

"Fine. You weren't. Okay. Sorry." He went back to the laptop. "Besides, you're freaking hot, beautiful, and alluring."

"Yeah, well- Alluring?"

He nodded. "It's a vocab word."

"For?"

"English class."

Rolling her eyes, she said, "You're telling me you had never heard the word alluring before that?"

"Don't question me."

Sighing as she shifted against him once more, Annabel said, "I think the baby's having fun."

Owen looked over at him too, finding the child banging some of his blocks together. "As long as he's not pooping himself, I'm good."

"I'm not too good at changing diap-"

"No. I'm not doing it for you. No, before you even ask."

She frowned at him. "You're no fun."

"Changing a diaper is not fun."

"You should do it for me because you love me."

"I do love you," he said. "Not that much though."

"How much then?"

"I dunno. Give me a scenario."

"Mmmm…would you throw yourself off a bridge for me?"

"Yes," he said readily.

"Would you…set yourself on fire for me?"

"Yes."

"Are you just saying yes to make me happy?"

"Yes."

"Bear-"

"I love you. I love you very much. And I would kill myself if that's what it took to make you happy."

"You-"

"But you love me. And you don't want to see me hurting. So you would never ask for that."

"I might."

"Would not."

"You don't know that."

"I know you," he pointed out. "There for, I know that."

"There for. Alluring. You are not the same dinky Bear you were at school today."

"I am," he assured her. "Just without the word dinky."

"You are dinky."

"Am not."

"Are too." She leaned up then, kissing his cheek. "Agree with me because you love me."

"Okay."

"See how easy that is?"

They were both silent for awhile after that, Owen getting back into his computer game, Annabel splitting her attention between her phone, the television, and the baby she was supposed to be babysitting.

"Whose car is that?" Owen asked sometime later. He had happened to look up and see it parked out the huge glass front of the house. "Bella?"

"Hmmm?" She looked up from her phone, frowning at the extra car in the driveway. "I dunno."

Owen kept watching, no recognition coming to him as the driver got out. When a guy got out of the backseat though, he groaned.

"Rolly," he complained as Annabel stood to get the door. "Don't let him in."

"I have to."

"Why?"

"The other guy is Rogerson. Ricky's father."

Owen just made a face, not really up for meeting anyone, much less dealing with the drama his best friend always brought with him. Still, they couldn't very much keep the child's father out…or could they? Hmmm…

Still, Owen was only left to sigh as Annabel let the two other guys into the house, Rolly immediately heading into the living room to greet his best friend. Owen wasn't too thrilled with his friend at the moment though, as they hadn't had a very good week with one another. This mainly stemmed from Rolly, once again, breaking up with a girl and then acting like a jerk to his best friend because of it.

"Ah, here he is," Owen heard another voice say. Looking towards the doorway, he found Annabel leading that guy, Rogerson, into the room. The man just headed slowly over to his son, reaching down to lift the baby into his arms. "Been waiting all day to see him."

Annabel smiled at that before looking at her boyfriend. "Rogerson, this is Owen."

The guy hardly gave him a second glance, though that was more to the fact his son was tugging on his dreadlocks at that point.

"Hi," Owen greeted evenly as he stood.

"Yeah, Rogerson and I were hanging out when he said he needed to swing by here," Rolly was saying then, smiling real big for some reason. Honestly, just hearing his voice was giving Owen a headache. "I had to come and see Annabel. How close we are and shit."

Rogerson looked at the teen then. "A big spender, your friend here is."

Owen still just stared, something off putting about the whole situation. Annabel just looked to Rogerson though.

"Your mother said she'd pick him up at-"

"I'll call her later and tell her never mind. That I have him now." The man bounced his son who giggled happily. Still, Owen just watched, not sure what else to do.

"I dunno," Annabel went on, her tone giving off her hesitance. "Your mother said not to let him go with you."

"Really now?"

"Yeah. She told me specifically to only let him go with her."

"You really think she has the right then," Rogerson asked, his tone coming off as more interested than anything else. Owen wasn't buying it though. "To decide when I can see him, you think? Huh, Annabel?"

"Well, I-"

"'cause Caitlin's out in the car. I'm sure his mother and his father should get to be with him if they want. Would that be okay with you, Annabel? Should you call my mommy to find out?" Still, his voice didn't not waver from his tone. Owen did from his stance though.

"Knock it off," the teen said as he glared at the man. "I'm serious."

"Knock what off?" Rogerson still seemed at ease, but there was just something about him that Owen didn't like. "I'm just talking to her. Owen. Who are you again?"

"That's Owen Armstrong," Rolly spoke up. "He and Annabel are, like, dating or whatever. And he's about to get told to shut up by her, I'm sure."

"Shut up, Rolly," Annabel told him.

"See? I knew she was going to tell one of us to."

"Armstrong. Right."

"What?" Owen's eyes never left Rogerson's.

"I just know you now. That name." He looked him over. "I know Ronnie. The little prick you knocked out. And Cash. Everyone knows Cash."

"Everyone knows Cash," Owen repeated, glancing at Annabel finally. She wouldn't look at him though. "And apparently everyone knows you."

"Owen," Annabel whispered, but she no longer had his attention.

"Everyone knows me." Rogerson's gaze was level with him. "Do they? For what?"

"He's talking about dealing," Rolly said, trying to divert the situation from the way it was going. "'cause everyone goes to you for pot and shit."

"That's not what I'm talking about," Owen said, not looking at his supposed best friend. "And if you ever talk to my girlfriend like that, I'll make you wish it was still girls that you were beating up on."

Rogerson snorted at him, which would have given the old Owen enough reason to go over there and whip that smirk off his face. This Owen though had been through anger management and also had a girlfriend that would kill him if he hit someone. Not to mention the guy was holding his son at the moment.

"He's cute, this one is, Annabel," Rogerson said as he bounced his son. "I'll call Mom and tell her I got Ricky, huh? You've got enough to worry about, keeping this one down. Threats. They're so cute when they're teenagers, boys are."

No one said anything as he gathered his sons toys and diaper bag before leaving. Rolly was glaring heavily at Owen though.

"What the heck was that? Huh? Who the hell am I supposed to buy pot from now, Owen? Jackson Davis?" Rolly shook his head at his friend before quickly heading out of the house in a lame attempt to catch Rogerson, no doubt to apologize.

Once it was just Owen and Annabel in the house again, she spoke.

"I don't know what the hell you thought-"

"He's not going to talk to you that way."

"What way, Owen?"

"Disrespectfully."

"You-"

"I don't like him. I can just tell that he-"

"Well, guess what, Owen? You don't get to make all my decisions in life for me. You don't. You're not my bodyguard. You're my boyfriend. And embarrassing me that way in front of Rogerson? Not a smart move."

"Why are you trying to impress that prick? He's not your friend. You don't buy from him."

"He's the son of my parents' friends, Owen."

He blinked before shaking his head. "I guess I just don't see that as some big deal."

"That's not the point anyways, Owen. You were rude to him for no reason."

"He was-"

"He didn't do anything! You can't fight my battles for me for the rest of my life."

He just crossed his arms, looking into her eyes. "He's an asshole. And you're not going to be around him anymore."

"Excuse me?"

"You're not. You're not going to be around some guy that-"

"You're freaking psycho if you think-"

"I don't care, Annabel. You're not going to be around him or babysit for him kid. Any of that." He shook his head. "Understood?"

She snorted, staring hard at him. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"I am."

"God, you're freaking crazy, Owen. You don't control me. I-"

"You're not going to be around Rogerson anymore. End of story." He walked away from her then, heading off to the kitchen to get a drink. "You can't make good decisions for yourself. You've proven that."

"Don't you-"

"You trust people way too much," he said over his shoulder. "You give them too much of a chance too hurt you. I won't give them the slimmest of chances to do any harm to you. Ever. And I don't care what you have to say about it."

* * *

"Well, I've never wished I had sons more than now," Grace said as Owen and Rolly went to work unloading her car, having come all the way out to the garage to do it. "Though I'm sure by the time I finish getting the two of you fed, I'll regret ever thinking that."

"It's the least we can do," Owen told her as he lifted the grocery bags out of the trunk.

"And Rolly, I'm shocked to see you here. Are you staying for dinner also?" Grace asked as he headed into the house, his hands full of bags as well.

"I wouldn't want to repose."

"I believe you mean impose. And no, you wouldn't be." She smiled at her daughter who was standing on the garage steps, arms crossed, looking less than thrilled. "We'd love to have you. And Annabel, come help get groceries."

"They have them," she assured her mother who sent her a look. "Trust me."

"Well, where's the baby dear?" her mother asked as she headed out of the garage and into the kitchen as well, her daughter following. Owen just headed back into the garage to finish unloading the car, though he could still hear them both talking.

"His mother and father came to pick him up," he heard Annabel tell her mother. "And Owen fought with Rogerson."

"What?"

"I did not," Owen defended as he came into the kitchen as well, more groceries with him. "He was being rude to Annabel. And she told me about how he beat up his girlfriend. He's into going to talk to mine that way."

"Owen," Annabel hissed at him while her mother shook her head.

"What? He's not." He looked at Grace, for some reason feeling the need to confirm that he was right. She wouldn't look at him though as she began to taking the groceries out of the bags. "He was acting like a punk."

"And you weren't?" Annabel was glaring heavily at him then. "You embarrassed me, Owen."

"Better embarrassed then black and blue, right?"

"How come you can change, Owen, but no one else can?"

"I never said he couldn't. But that doesn't mean he's going to-"

"Knock it off, you guys," Rolly said as he brought the rest of the groceries in. Setting them down on the counter, he said, "Rogerson doesn't care about either of you or what happened here today. He's probably already forgotten about it. So why can't the two of you?"

"Why are you here again?"

"Owen, stop it." Annabel hit his arm, none to lightly. "You-"

"Annabel, honestly." Her mother frowned at her before looking to Owen and his friend. "You boys can go watch TV in the living room. Annabel's going to help me put these groceries away."

Owen could almost feel the blades his girlfriend was shooting at his back as he and Rolly headed out of the room. The second they were alone, Rolly whistled.

"Someone's not getting any for a long time."

"Shut up, Rolly."

"I mean, God, you just dig yourself in deeper and deeper with her. You knew she was already upset with you. Why did you-"

"Just shut up."

Sighing, Rolly took a seat on the couch. "Whatever. Can we watch the football game?"

Owen handed him the remote. "Watch what you want."

They were both quiet for awhile as Rolly got into the football game, Owen focusing mostly on calming himself down. After a moment though, he spoke.

"Do you know Rogerson well?"

"Biscoe? Yeah, I do." Rolly glanced around before lowering his voice. "He's been dealing to me forever. We're cool. He's a little OCD about shit though. Like whatever you do, don't track mud in his place. Honestly."

"Yeah, but I was talking more about-"

"So he hit his girlfriend. So what? You hit guys. No one holds it against you. Besides, she apparently liked it if she's back with him."

Owen shook his head. "I still don't want Annabel-"

"Like what? He's going to hit some random chick? You worry too much, bro." Rolly let out a long sigh. "What's for dinner anyways?"

"Fish, I think."

"What kind of fish?"

"I dunno. Fish."

Rolly sighed. "I wish her sisters were still here. They're hot."

"Shut up."

"They are." He let out another whistle. "Whitney. Man. You gotta tell me when she breaks up with that black dude. I'm next in line. Swear I am."

"Just shut up and watch your stupid game."

"Gladly."

Ten minutes had passed when Annabel joined them. She sat down in the chair though, away from both boys. Rolly hardly noticed her, but Owen just kept staring at her, pleading almost.

"What?" Annabel finally snapped at her after not being able to avoid his eyes any longer.

"Why are you mad at me?"

"Why? Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"You embarrassed me, then you got me in trouble with my mom-"

"You hit me," he pointed out. "Not the other way around."

"You guys just aren't going to be happy with one another today, are you?" Rolly glanced at Annabel before back at his friends. "Just don't talk to each other if you can't stop fighting. Either that or you should leave, Owen. Don't worry. I'm sure Annabel will be fine here with me. Just force my way into the family. I think it's very obvious that her parents like me better."

"You're about to get kicked out," Owen told him.

"I highly doubt you have that power."

"Never doubt me, Rolly."

"You're the one that's about to get kicked out, Owen," Annabel intervened. "Stop it. Now."

Slumping back against the couch, Owen weighed his options. He could just leave and probably spending the rest of the day having a lot more fun than he was having with Annabel at the moment. Still, he knew that if he left, that Annabel would just become angrier and that wouldn't do. So he sat there, ignoring the both of them. Besides, he would get fed if he stayed. That was always good.

It wasn't until Andrew got home and they were all sitting down for dinner that Owen even spoke again. It wasn't to his girlfriend either. She was sitting on one side of him, his best friend on the other, but he was actively ignoring both of them.

"The fish's good," Owen told his girlfriend's mother who just smiled at him. Andrew rolled his eyes along with his daughter.

"Thank you, Owen. I'm glad someone still enjoys my cooking," Grace said. "It seems like everyone else thinks only Whitney can ever cook anymore."

"No one has ever said that, Grace," Andrew said from the head of the table.

"Where is she?" Rolly asked then. "Whitney? Is she not coming to dinner?"

"Why, I didn't realize the two of you were so close." Grace smiled at him. It was finally Owen's turn to roll his eyes while Rolly just sat up straighter, grinning. "She doesn't live here though, dear."

"That's too bad. On Thanksgiving, she and I were having a very good conversation."

Andrew narrowed his eyes at the teen. "Were you?"

"Dad," Annabel complained.

Owen pushed his friend's foot under the table, wanting him to be quiet. He had been on relatively good terms with the Andrew for the past few weeks and didn't feel like having Rolly messing it up.

"The boy's right though, Grace," her husband said after a minute or two of silence. "The fish is good."

"Thank you." She didn't look at him though. She hadn't seemed too receptive to her husband recently. Annabel had told Owen that her parents weren't arguing as much recently, but by the same token weren't speaking much at all. It was bothering her and though he didn't want to tell her, Owen was almost certain that their marriage was pretty much through.

"It sure beats the pizza rolls I would've had at home," Rolly assured the woman who did spare a smile for him. As much as Owen hated it, Grace did seem to have taken a liking to his friend. It annoyed him greatly, but this happened frequently. People always like Rolly more than him, thought that he was more entertaining. And maybe he was. Probably.

"Surely you're not still home alone, dear," Grace said then.

"Oh, no, Mom and Dad are home. Mom doesn't cook much though. Dad either."

"Well, you're always welcome here."

Annabel reached over then, grabbing Owen's hand closest to her. He had been involuntarily tapping his fingers against the table, annoyed. When he glanced at her, she gave him a look before letting his hand go.

The rest of dinner was about the same. Rolly would crack a joke and then Andrew would give him a look. Owen would get annoyed and then Annabel would glare at him. After dinner, Owen wanted nothing more to get away from the Greene household. Annabel didn't try to get him to stay either. He and Rolly were gone the second they could be. Rolly was in a good mood still, but Owen was stonily silent the whole ride.

"What's up with you?" Rolly finally asked as they neared his house. "You've been ignoring me since-"

"Annabel is my girlfriend."

"Believe me, I know."

"Stop coming around her house."

"What?"

"You heard me." Owen gave him a look. "I have a hard enough time trying to get her family to like me. I don't need you mucking it up."

"I'm not mucking anything up! They love me."

That was the problem. "No, they don't. Her mother tolerates you and her father-"

"Bah. He just hasn't gotten the chance to know me yet."

"Why can't you just get your own girlfriend, huh? And stop acting like mine is your friend. She's not. You're my friend and she's my girlfriend. The two of you need to get along, fine, but you don't have to be friends. So knock it off."

"Oh, what? Are you jealous?"

"No." Was he? "I'm not. I just don't like-"

"You were fine with me hanging around before today. What? You're mad because your girl is all upset with you? Or because you got shown up in front of that guy? Rogerson? Is that's what's up?"

"Shut up, Rolly."

"You're such a chick, dude. That's why no one else likes hanging out with you."

It was then that they pulled up. And even when they did, Owen wouldn't look at his friend, too pissed off to trust himself not to harm the other guy.

"So that's it then?" Rolly frowned at the other guy. "Fuck you then. Jerk."

Owen drove around for some time after he dropped the other teen boy off. He didn't feel much like going home, honestly. The rest of the day had sucked so much that he really didn't want to find what was awaiting him back at the house. His mother caused him so much trouble recently that he didn't even want to have another talk with her. At the moment he didn't want to talk about anything with anyone.

Eventually figuring that he shouldn't burn up all his gas just because he was upset, he headed home, knowing it was best to face the music as soon as possible. When he pulled up though, he found that everyone in the house was in bed. His mother had been going to bed early recently, probably overspent from the day's activities. His sister was in bed too and Owen was actually glad for that. It helped him with that not talking to anyone thing.

Once he was in his room, Owen was faced with the dilemma of calling Annabel or not. He typically did at night, regardless of the fact that they spent the day together or not. Still, she wasn't exactly happy with him at the moment. Not to mention, he wasn't too thrilled with her either…

Stripping down, Owen climbed into bed, quickly falling into a deep slumber. It didn't last long though. It had only been about eight when he went to bed, an hour passing quickly when his phone rang. Groggily, he groped around the ground to find his jeans and pull his cell out of the pocket.

"'ello?"

"I just want you to know that I don't need you to pick me up tomorrow."

"Mmmm."

"It's Friday after all, so I won't have a show to worry about. I'd rather walk to school than go with you."

"Mmmm."

"You're a jerk. I'm not sitting with you tomorrow either."

"Mmmm."

"So don't talk to me. Don't call me. Don't-"

"Bell?"

"What?"

"Not that this isn't interesting or whatever, but I was sleeping. So can we just go ahead and apologize with out the hysterics and call it a night? You know as well as I do that tomorrow morning, I'm going to pull up to your house and you're going to get in. Then, at lunch, you're going to sit on the wall with me and, though we might not talk, you're going to share your lunch with me. So stop the games for just one fucking minute and let me sleep. God. In the morning, after I've slept, you can play all the stupid little mind games you want. Just tell me that you love me right now and I can say I love you too so that we can go to bed."

She was quiet for a minute and in that time, Owen shifted back onto his bed, snuggled under the covers, and shut his eyes. When she spoke, he was mostly asleep.

"I really don't like you most of the time."

"Yeah, well, tough." He let out a long breath. "I'm going to protect you, Annabel, from jerks like Biscoe. I always have and always will. You know that I'm protective."

"Possessive."

"Same difference in this case." He sighed. "Now can I go back to sleep or what?'

"It's not even ten yet."

"So? I'm tired. I have work tomorrow, you were really rude to me today, I-"

"I was rude to you."

"Yes!"

"Well, I see that situation totally different."

"And that's not surprising to me," he told her in full honest. "At all. It doesn't change the fact, though, that I'm tired and really just want to go to bed."

"Then why did you answer the phone?"

"Because I knew if I didn't, you would be mad at me."

"I would not have."

"Would too. You're always mad at me about something."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"It is totally the other way around."

"Is it? Totally is it?"

"Stop mocking me."

"Then stop calling me just to fight."

"I didn't call you just to fight. I called you to make up."

"By telling me how you didn't want to see me tomorrow? Oh, yeah, that was just you wanting to make up. Okay."

"Why are you so angry with me anyways?"

"Because you just called me and were acting like a-"

"And what about what you were acting like, Owen? Over at my house today?"

"I already told you, Annabel, you're not going to be around Rogerson. End of discussion."

"You're not my father."

"And I don't want to be."

"You're not going to control me, Owen."

"I'm telling you what you're not going to do. If you want to openly defy that, fine. Just don't expect my help when-"

"Oh, you think you call the shots now?"

"I don't think anything, Annabel." He was really tired then and just wanted her to hang up the phone. "And I'm going to bed now. I'm hanging up. You can continue yelling at me if you'd like, I really don't care. Just know that I won't be listening. Goodnight. I love you."

"You-"

Hanging up, he quickly turned off his cell before settling back into bed, where only an uncomfortable sleep awaited him.

* * *

He almost drove passed her, honestly. He had just glanced to the side to see someone walking down the street, rather quickly. Of course he immediately recognized her as he would recognize her anywhere. Groaning, he rolled down his window as he caught up to her.

"Get in the car, Annabel."

"No."

"Now."

"No."

He was hardly driving at that point, Annabel still walking at a pretty quick pace. "Get in the fucking car, Annabel. Goddamn, don't make me say it again!"

That got her. As he came to a stop, she hurried into the car, something in his tone causing her to do so. Even after she was in, they both just sat there for a moment, not speaking. Owen wasn't sure why he had suddenly gotten so fed up with her, but he had. Everything was a game with her. Everything. It got on his nerves.

Finally deciding neither had any words to say, Owen put the car back into drive, not even looking at his girlfriend. She was staring straight ahead, only putting her seatbelt on as an afterthought. Owen's music was playing softly in the background, some kind of poetry with hardly any beat at all. Neither moved to turn it up or turn it down though.

"I wasn't going to let you walk to school, Annabel," Owen said eventually, knowing the two of them couldn't honestly go the whole time without talking. Well, he couldn't. Annabel probably could. She was pretty good at ignoring others. That's how she dealt with most her problems after all.

"You didn't have to snap at me."

"I'm sorry."

"You're always sorry."

"And you're not?"

"Let's just go to school, Owen. And then we can spend the rest of the day avoiding each other. You'll go to work later and I'll spend the day with my sister, maybe. Then tomorrow I might call you or something. I don't-"

"Stop being dramatic."

"What's wrong with that plan, Owen? You work tonight."

"And? I'll still call you after. I always call you after. And we're going to see each other at lunch. And I'm going to text you all through the day when I get a free moment. And I'm not going to stop thinking about you once. I'm going to think about how much I wish that it was the weekend already so I could take you home with me and we could make out and snuggle and play videogames while eating fish sticks and fries. That's what I'm going to be thinking about all day. Because I'm in love with you. Completely and utterly."

"Shut up, Owen. Just not today, alright?"

He left it at that, figuring only time would make her forgive him at that point. Or at least soften up her anger. He knew better than anyone how his girlfriend could hold a grudge. She was great at it. He just wished she'd try it out on someone else sometime.

Neither spoke to each other when they got there. They didn't even look at each other. She went her way and he went his. Sure, through out the day he sent her a few texts as he said he would, but she wouldn't reply. And then at lunch, of course she sat with him. Annabel didn't have the balls to pull off a stunt of sitting with James and them. She just didn't.

Still, their lunch was silent. She just sat there next to him on the wall, hardly even glancing at him as she handed off some of her sandwich and chips. Owen thought about just talking to her anyways, but really didn't feel up to the challenge. Everything about Annabel was a freaking challenge. He liked being with her, of course, but all the drama that came along with that got on his nerves sometimes.

It wasn't until after school that Owen saw Annabel again. And even then she was just waiting in the Land Cruiser for him, like usual. Owen was silent when he got in, not sure if they were on good terms again. When it was clear that Annabel wouldn't speak to him, he just started the car and turned his music up. If she wasn't going to be kind to him, he wasn't going to be to her.

By the time they pulled up to her glass house, Owen had had about enough of the silence however. As Annabel was unbuckling her seatbelt, he turned in his own seat before moving to kiss her, lucking out that she was facing his way.

Annabel, shocked by this, pulled quickly away from him, frowning. "What are you doing?"

"I love you." He unbuckled his own seatbelt before moving to get closer to her. Reaching out, he tried to cup her cheek, but she turned away. "Bella, stop it."

"I'm going, Owen. You can call me-"

"No." He grabbed her arm when she tried to leave. "Bella-"

"Let me go, Owen."

He immediately did, though he still stared heavily at her. "I can go in with you. I don't have work for a few hours. Two hours, I mean. And I could-"

"How hard is it to get, Owen, that I'm upset with you?"

"I get it," he told her. "I just don't like it. You're my best friend, Bell. I don't function well when you're upset with me."

"I am not your best friend."

'You are." He reached out again, this time grabbing one of her hands. Laying that hand against his chest, he forced her to lay her fingers flat before saying, "I want to makeup. Tell me what I have to do to get you to makeup with me."

"Apologize."

"I'm sorry," he said on command. "I'm sorry that I made you upset. I am. I don't mean to, you know. I just do sometimes, 'cause I get so worked up. That's what I get. Worked up over you. 'cause I love you so much."

She clinched the hand on his chest, bunching up his t-shirt in the process. "You have got to stop trying to manage my life."

"Okay."

"I'm your girlfriend," she told him. "Not your child or pet. You can't control me."

"I know."

'I'm going to make my own decisions."

"I know."

She kissed him then, lingering only for a moment. Even when she pulled away, she kept her grip on his shirt.

"You can stay?" she mumbled to which he nodded. "Then let's go upstairs. It's cold out here."

"Very cold," he mumbled as she finally let him go. "I can't stay long though."

"Before you could."

"Before I would have been late to work just to make sure that you weren't still upset with me."

"You haven't made sure yet," she told him as she finally got out of the car. "Come on, let's go."

Owen was quick to get out of the car, trailing behind his girlfriend into the empty house and then up the stairs to her bedroom. He wasn't sure what she was planning on doing, but he sure knew what he wanted to do.

"Come lay down with me," Annabel ordered after collapsing on her bed. "Bear."

He immediately did as she said, moving to lay over her, his fingers immediately poking her sides. Annabel squealed predictably, trying to get away from him.

"I love you." Owen pressed an open mouth cheek against her cheek. "Mine."

"Yours." She stared up into his eyes. "Bear."

"Do you think we can…?"

"Owen-"

"I've just been doing some thinking."

"Dangerous territory for you."

"Just…maybe it's my fault."

"What's your fault?"

He shifted to his side on the bed, Annabel moving to do the same. "That you don't like it."

"Owen, we've had sex, like, two times."

"I know. And you didn't like either." He looked off. "Maybe I should, like, do more for you first."

"Do more for me?"

"Like mess with your boobs or something."

She just looked hard at him. "Has anyone ever told you how awkward you make things?"

"Well, would it help or not?"

"I don't know, Owen."

"In porn-"

"I swear to God if you start talking about porn again, we are so done."

He let out a long sigh. "I just want to make this good for you."

"We have the rest of forever to figure all that out." She pressed a hand against his chest again. "Unless you know something I don't?"

"I don't think I know anything at all."

"You know some things," Annabel argued. "I mean, you know how to catch fish with your paws straight from the water."

"What?"

"I was making a joke, Owen," she said, frowning at him, "Bears catch fish. You know, 'cause you're my bear."

"I'm your bear," he mumbled before moving to press his lips against forehead. "For the rest of forever."

She kissed under his chin. "For the rest of forever."

* * *

**So yeah, it's pretty obvious I reread Dreamland this past week. It's only fair that I included Rogerson. I freaking love him. One of my favorite Dessen guys, but everyone hates on him. So yeah, hitting Caitlin was kind of bad and yeah, he was like a total pot head, but I mean everyone makes mistakes. Albeit not as of mistakes, but hey. **


	6. Chapter 6

Winter Freeze

Chapter 6

He wanted to murder her. He honestly did. There was nothing more he wanted to do than strangle her.

…Other than, like, have his Ipod fixed. Never have been broken.

His bedroom door slammed closed behind him, the only thing keeping the teen from yelling more at his sister and mother. She had been there, his mother. It happened in the living room. Owen had been in there, happily enjoying his Saturday, his mother sitting on the couch with him watching a movie. It was when his sister came into the room though that everything went to hell.

It was simple enough, the problem. She had broken his Ipod. Not killed the battery or cracked the screen. She'd literally broken it. She'd dropped it in the toilet. How that came about, Owen wasn't too certain. The words broken and Ipod kinda set him off.

He yelled at her. No, he literally screamed at her. He had never done anything like that before, not to Mallory, not to his baby sister. Not even when they were kids did he flip out on her so badly. There were times growing up, of course, that she had done the unthinkable. They had shared a room most of their young life so obviously there had been some meltdowns. This one though took the cake.

It was definitely his biggest outburst since the mirror breaking thing. Possibly even bigger. Maybe.

From his room, Owen could hear his sister crying to their mother, no doubt upset that he was so angry with her. There were few times that Owen was honestly angry with his sister. Annoyed, yes. Angry, no. Yet still he couldn't force himself to go out there and apologize. It wasn't his fault, after all. She was the one who had done wrong. She was the one who had broken _his_ Ipod. She deserved to get yelled at. No one ever punished her anymore. They just all let her do whatever the hell she wanted. Well guess what? He doesn't give a damn. She broke something of his. She was lucky all he was doing was yelling at her.

Annabel found him like that sometime later, sitting on the edge of his bed, glaring down at the floor. He had sent her a text, telling her it was urgent. Having had to be let into the house by his mother, she had already heard the whole story and was no doubt not on his side. Owen was ready for some kind of long lecture or something, but instead, Annabel just sat down next to him. After a moment, she slowly reached over and took one off his hands in her own, interlacing their fingers. And so they sat for at least ten minutes, maybe twenty. It was finally Owen that spoke though.

"I can't take it anymore."

"It's okay, Bear."

"I let her borrow it and she fucking-"

"Owen-"

"It has my playlist for tomorrow. Now I have to-"

"I'm sure you have that memorized backwards and forwards. Not to mention, it's very easy to transfer over to a flash drive."

He tossed her hand from his own. "You don't get it. You never get anything."

Sighing as she kicked off her shoes, Annabel then moved to get behind him, on her knees on the bed. Then she wrapped her arms around his from behind.

"Oh, Bear," she sighed, shaking her head before burying it in his back. "I'll buy you a new one."

"I don't want a fucking new one, Annabel," he said through gritted teeth, his proximity to her not able to calm him down for once. "I want-"

"It doesn't matter what you want, Owen. What you want is out. It's gone. The Ipod is broken. That's over. What happens now is that you calm the hell down, apologize to your sister and mother, and then I buy you a new one. Simple."

"You don't-"

"I don't get it, Owen," she finished for him. "I don't get what it's like to not have money, I don't get what it's like to not have both my parents live with me, I don't get what it's like to have a sister dying, I don't get what it's like to be angry, I don't get what it's like to want to punch something. I don't get you, Owen. Fine. If that's what you want, fine. I don't get you."

His head fell forwards again as he looked at his sock clad feet. Then, mumbling, he said, "Can you get me a blue one?"

Annabel pressed her lips against the sweaty skin at the base of his neck. "I'll get you two blue ones if that's what you want."

* * *

"I'm grounded."

Annabel paused. "From me?"

"From everything, I think. Except for, like, the radio show and work."

"How'd you pull that off?"

"I didn't. She just said I could still do it. I dunno why. I guess so I wasn't at home all the time. Besides, I did it today without a problem, so I guess she just figures it'll keep me happy."

"Not being grounded would keep you happy."

"She has to punish me I guess."

"So let's see. You're not grounded from work."

"Duh."

"Or Anger Management."

"Nope."

"Or your cell phone?"

"…Maybe she forgot to take it."

"Then really you're just grounded from going out, right?"

"I guess so."

"Then…what about me coming over?"

"I hadn't thought about that."

"Is she home? Can you go ask her?"

"No. After I got home, she grounded me and then took Mallory over to Cam's."

"So you're all alone?"

"Mmmhmm."

"Then, Mr. Honesty, can I come over?"

"I suppose so," he said slowly. Yesterday when she had come over, it had only been for a short while, to calm him down. Once he was calm though, his mother had sent her away, no doubt as punishment. Now though that she had laid out his real punishment and Annabel's name had been left out off it, he figured this wouldn't be too bad an offense.

…Her lying was starting to wear off on him.

"Alright, be there soon. Love you."

Smiling, Owen repeated those words back before hanging up. Then he just laid there for a moment, staring up at his ceiling. Annabel was coming over. Cool. No one was home. They would get to be alone. And they'd probably…

Sitting up suddenly, Owen looked around his room. Yesterday, when she had come over to check on him, there had been no chance of them really doing anything. Now though, there was a major chance of that. He didn't want his room to, like, disgust her or something. What if that made her not want to, you know, have sex with him? That would suck.

Owen jumped up and began to go around his room, cleaning up to the best of his ability. He only had about ten to twenty minutes to spare after all. After he had done all he could, Owen ran to the bathroom to get the air freshener and spray the whole house down. While he was running up and down the stairs doing that, he realized that he kind of didn't smell so great. If they were doing that, smelling good would be a big part of it.

"Shit, shit, shit," Owen complained as he headed back into the bathroom, quickly going to grab his bottle of cologne, trying his hardest not to put too much on. It was a hard thing to get used to, the amount of cologne a guy should use. Very few ever found that perfect balance before the age of twenty. Not that you could tell them that.

He was still running around when he heard a knock at the door. Groaning, he rushed to go answer it, not wanting Annabel to wait out in the cold. It was freezing out, after all. His poor little girlfriend, out there in the cold.

"You look nice."

"Thank you," Annabel said with a smile as her boyfriend opened the door more to let her in. "I just got this jacket."

"It's fuzzy," he told her, not sure how else to compliment it. He knew better than to just ignore it. "Looks warm."

"It is," she assured him, taking her boots off by the door as he closed and locked the door. At the sound of the deadbolt fastening into place, Annabel looked up at him.

"Scared of what's gonna get in? Or me getting out?"

"Neither. Habit."

"Mmmm."

"I'm failing classes," he told her then, heading off to the kitchen to get a soda. He thought if he said it all nonchalantly that she would feel the same way. Apparently not.

"You're what?"

"It's not that big of a d-"

"It is a big deal, Owen Gavin. It's senior year and-"

"Did you just call me by first and middle name?"

She stared at him defiantly. "The time called for it."

"If you were my mother, maybe."

"Gavin."

"Annabel-"

"First son's name. Swear it. With or without you."

Rolling his eyes, Owen popped the tab on his soda before taking a long sip. Then he said, "I'll bring my grades up, Bella. And if I don't, who cares?"

"I care."

Ignoring that, he said, "You want anything?"

"What?"

"Food or something?"

"No, I-"

"Then come on." He nodded towards the staircase. "We can listen to music."

"Of course we can," she said, sarcasm obvious.

"Hey, we could always play Halo," he pointed out. "Or Mario Kart. Or Sonic. Or-"

"Alright, whatever. Let's go listen to music."

"Wise choice."

When they made it to his bedroom, Owen immediately went to his bed, but Annabel stood in the doorway, staring.

"Bored, Bear?"

"Hmmm?"

"You picked up." She paused, taking a sniff. "And it smells…funny in here."

"Just, you know, making stuff clean and shit. For my girl or whatever."

She still stayed in the doorway. "You never have before."

"No true. The first time I invited you over for dinner, I cleaned for hours. I just got…complacent along the way." He wagged his eye brows. "You hear that? Complacent? I think I deserve something for that."

"Like?"

He shrugged as he settled on the bed, sitting up while staring at her. "You choose."

Again, he just got a stare. For a moment anyways. Then she rushed to get into bed with him, closing the door behind her. He laughed at this as she settled in his lap, her arms roped loosely around his neck.

"It's your reward though, Bear," she told him as one of her hand snaked down to press against his chest. "Your choice."

"I don't think you'd like my choice."

"I was expecting your choice."

"Who wouldn't? It's pretty obvious."

"Maybe that's why you're failing stuff. You're too obvious. Too dim."

"You don't even know what I'm failing," he pointed out.

"I know you have to be failing Trig."

"True."

"And…Anatomy?"

"Not true." He ran a hand up her thigh. "You should have known that."

"Believe me, I know everything about that."

"Hey-"

"English? Are you failing that? Did you not read that novel?"

"It's a stupid book. Who wants to read about a bunch of animals taking over a farm?"

"It's symbolism, Owen, between-"

"Blah, blah, blah. You sound like my teacher."

She patted his chest. "Are you failing more classes?"

"Yes."

"Okay." She took a deep breath, thinking. "Are you failing…uh…didn't you take Criminal Justice as an elective?"

He just stared at her. "How was I supposed to know what hearsay was? It's ludicrous."

That got her to wiggle her hips. "Ooh, Bear, you keep using these words, you might actually get a reward."

"I deserve one."

"Not with all these failing grades."

"School's hard," he told her, though he was staring down then, watching her as she continued to shift over him. "I hate it."

"It's not for you."

"It's not. If you looked at my GDP, you'd think I was stupid."

That got her hips to still finally. "Your gross domestic product?"

"What?"

"I think you meant GPA, Bear."

"Then what is a GDP?"

"Don't tell me you're failing economics too."

He shrugged. "Does it matter?"

"Oh, Gavin."

"Stop that." He was stroking her thigh then. "My point was, if you look at my ranking or whatever, you'd think that I was dumb, all 'cause my class rank is so low."

"High, you mean."

"Huh?"

"Low is good. High is bad."

"Maybe I am stupid."

"No," she said slowly, moving to rest her head against his. "You're just not smart. The opposite of smart isn't stupid. You're normal."

"Normal people don't do anything good though."

"Without normal people, there wouldn't be great people." She smiled slightly. "I'm hot, right?"

"The hottest."

"Okay, well, it only makes me hotter, you know, when people see us together. 'cause you're not. See?"

"I don't like your analogies."

"But you get it, right? I'm pretty smart."

"You're pretty," he agreed, holding out on the other considering she had just insulted him.

"And you're…not. So when we're together, I seem highly intelligent. Get it? I'm special, you're normal. If we were all special, then we'd be normal."

"I dunno. Still sounds pretty sucky to me."

"Life is pretty sucky."

"It is."

"I-"

"Can we get back to my reward?"

"You're too eager."

He let out a long breath. "Then can we do something else?"

"Play videogames? No."

"No, not that." He moved to look into her eyes. "If you don't want to have sex, can we at least…do something?"

"Something is very vague." Annabel ran her hand back up his chest, moving her head to nuzzle his neck. "A placeholder. R and R."

"Can you jerk me off?"

"And you just got super not vague."

"I thought that was what you wanted." He pressed a kiss to her neck. "Besides, who knows when Mom and Mallory will get back?"

She let out a soft breath, staring at him. "Guess you're right."

"Always am."

"Explains your failing grades."

"Bella."

She shifted against him again, parting her legs more so that she could rub against him better. "After this, will you watch TV with me?"

"Gladly," he mumbled, more focused on what she was doing rather than what she was saying.

"No matter what show?"

"No m- Wait, what show?"

"It's a marathon of-"

"I don't like marathons. Of anything. Especially the shows you like. Reality TV is stupid."

"You're stupid."

"Hey," he complained. "You just said that I wasn't."

"I lied. I'm a liar. Get used to it."

Growling, he pushed her off him, making her giggle. The he pulled his shirt off before turning on his side and pulling her against his chest.

"Snuggle Bear?"

"That's better than Snoogie," he told her. "Let's get rid of Snoogie."

"You are though. Snoogie Bear." She snuggled against him before reaching down for his zipper. "It's so cold."

"It is," he agreed, wiggling out of his jeans as she pushed them down. "Bella."

"Gavin."

"Annabel-"

"Oh, shush and get me that stupid gel you use."

"Bella-"

"I'm trying to be helpful."

"You have a weird way of being helpful."

""You won't be saying that in a second."

"Oh? And you'll be talking so much?"

"Shockingly enough, Owen, what you do to me is nothing compared to what I do to you."

"How do you figure?"

"Don't question. I'm smarter than you. You wouldn't understand it anyways if I explained."

"Sometimes I feel like you're verbally abusive."

She patted him through his boxers, effectively ending that conversation. "Yeah, I know."

* * *

"I can't believe you're grounded."

"It's been happening a lot recently," he told the girl sitting in front of him. "I like your new haircut, by the way."

He and Clarissa had met up in the library once more, the girl once again finding any way she could to hang out with him. Owen had limited most of their hanging out with at school meetings, knowing that Annabel wouldn't be too pleased with the two of them actually going somewhere together.

"Thank you," the teen girl said, beaming. "I've never tried highlights before."

"They're nice," Owen reiterated, very guarded in exactly what he said. Annabel was very funny about word choices. Not that he wasn't, but her choiceness usually got him in trouble. "So, are you all ready for exams?"

"Ugh. That's what I hate about this place. Semester exams."

"I know," Owen said with a shake of his head. "We didn't have them at my other school."

"It sucks."

"Everything about this place sucks," he told her, looking down at the study sheet in front of him. "If I don't ace my exams, I might not come back."

"What?"

He shrugged. "I'm failing a few classes, you know? And if I fail this semester, I'll have to make up those classes. It's not worth it."

"Why isn't it worth it?"

She sounded genuinely interested, which Owen liked. …Not that Annabel wasn't interested or something silly like that. No. Ha ha.

"Because I'm not going to college."

"Then what are you going to do?"

"I dunno. Deliver pizzas for awhile."

"You could always, like, learn a trade," she offered up. "Like welding or mechanical or computer something. Whatever."

He just grunted, shaking his head.

"Then are you just going to live with your mother?"

"For now."

"When does that change?"

"I dunno. I guess when Annabel graduates or whatever."

She gave him a look. "Seriously, Owen?"

"Well, that's my plan."

"Well, you're really into the radio business, huh?"

"Duh."

"Then you could try to, I dunno, intern somewhere."

He shook his head. "All other music is crap. I don't want to have to put up with putting out music I don't feel strongly about. Or that I feel too strongly about, only in the other direction. I can't put garbage out on the airwaves."

She just stared at him for a moment, turning her head to the side while staring at him, as if curious. "Then why don't you learn an instrument? Try that out."

"Annabel says-"

"Annabel says, Annabel says," she taunted before making a face. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…I just think that you place too much of your future on what Annabel wants. I know I shouldn't say anything, but-"

"No, it's fine," he told her with a sigh, looking once more at his study guide. "Everyone tells me that. It doesn't matter though."

"I just think you're limiting yourself."

"Probably," he agreed, for some reason able to hear her out in a way that he wasn't his parents. "But I want Annabel. More than anything else."

She shook her head at him. "And your parents are, like, cool with you not going to college?"

"My dad's not," Owen admitted. "But my mother's really into self expression and finding your own way."

"That's cool."

He nodded. "So I guess you're going to college then."

"Of course," she told him in that ready voice she had when talking about school. It was kind of cute to Owen, the way she took herself so seriously, her schooling so seriously. She was going somewhere. He wasn't. It wasn't an emotional thing, rather just a fact.

…Not that he didn't want to go anywhere with Clarissa. Because he didn't. He was happy with Annabel. Perfectly happy. Really.

"I mean, I've already taken ACT and the SAT, know with colleges I want to go to, I-"

"That all sounds really complex," Owen told her. He knew that Annabel had already taken her SAT and ACT tests, but they didn't talk about that stuff that much. He knew the time would come when soon enough she'd be getting an acceptance letter and know where she was going, where she'd leave him behind at. He just didn't like to think about it much.

"It's really not," she assured him. "It's not too late, Owen. You just have to start on your FASFA, take either the SAT or the ACT, look into scholarship stuff-"

"Stop. You're hurting my head." He shook it then, staring at her. "I'm just no good at school, alright?"

"Fine," she said, easily giving in. She always seemed to with him. Then again, they both seemed rather conservative to the others boundaries. She didn't like to talk about her family ever and he didn't like to talk about school. Open and shut, considering they only spoke to each other at school or through text messages. She wasn't Rolly. And she definitely wasn't Annabel. Not even close.

It wasn't until lunch that Owen spoke again. Most of his classes were spent listening to music, not other people. After talking with Clarissa, he saw no other reason to talk to anyone else. Until he saw his girlfriend that is. Then he was immediately all ears as he typically was with her. And Annabel did not disappoint.

"Guess whose sister finally picked a date for her wedding?"

"I'm guessing your sister," Owen replied as he sat down, readily taking the sandwich she handed him. "And I'm guessing it's good news from the way you're smiling."

"It's in June," she told him excitedly. "After the baby's come and settled and everything."

"I'm sensing that's not why you're so excited."

She just nodded. "It's after we've graduated."

"And?"

"And that means tat you definitely can go. Since there's no school. So we'll be in a whole other state together, graduated-"

"Counting the days," he mumbled.

"For the trip or-"

"No," he told her simply, not needing to explain to her that he was much more concerned with what happened at the end of summer as oppose to the beginning of it. After all, the ending is always much more important than the beginning. In sports, in books, and most definitely in life.

"It's months away, Bear," she told him, though he wasn't sure if she meant the trip or her inevitable leaving.

"Yeah," he sighed, shaking his head. "It is."

* * *

"If you could describe me in one word, what would it be?"

"Stupid."

"Owen."

He sighed, glancing over at his friend. "Why did I bring you along again?"

"'cause you needed my opinion, which of course was a great choice of opinions."

"Of course."

"And let me tell you, that necklace we picked out? It's freaking awesome. She will love it." Rolly continued to text on his phone, hardly looking up at Owen came to a stop sign. Another day spent in the Land Cruiser it seemed. "So where to next, buddy?"

"What do you mean?"

"I went shopping with you," Rolly told him. "Now what are we going to do?"

"That was what we were going to do. This gift just set me back. And then I have to get her a Christmas gift as well. I don't have money to do anything else."

"I bet you'd have money to go out with Annabel."

"She's my girlfriend, Rolly."

"And I'm your best friend. Like ever."

"Not ever."

"Ever," Rolly reiterated. "Name one person that's had your back more."

"I can name a thousand names of people that haven't caused me near as much trouble as you," Owen offered up.

"No, no, no," Rolly said, shaking his head. "Friends cause friends trouble. Best friends even more. That's what they do."

"What trouble have I caused you?"

That got Rolly to look away from his phone, if only to glare at his friend. "You can't be serious."

"I am serious," Owen aid, nodding his head. "Name one thing-"

"Dude, that day you got into that fight at the club, who called your mom? Or when our freaking bid for the radio show got delayed, who waited for you instead of just taking your name off it? Huh? Who? Me. That's right, me."

"I have done way more for you. I-"

"It's not a matter of who's done more, Owen. I was just pointing out that you weren't in this alone. You do shit for me, I do shit for you. That's what being best friends means."

"Is it?"

"Yes," Rolly insisted. "You just don't know it because you're, you know, socially awkward."

"I am not socially awkward," Owen said, clearly offended.

"You completely are," Rolly told him. "I mean, sure, you're better off than when I first met you, but you still-"

"In what ways am I socially awkward?"

"In every way."

"I am not. I'm very social."

"You're as social as a skunk."

"Hey-"

"My point is, Owen, that we're friends. Friends get each other into binds and get each other out of binds." Rolly went back to his phone. "Annabel says spectacular."

"What?"

"I asked her the one word question. She said one word to describe me is spectacular."

"I thought I told you to stop talking to her?"

"You can't stop true friendship, my friend." Rolly started to type something back. "She wants to know a one word to describe her. I'm putting fuckable."

"No, you are not."

"Yes, I am."

"Rolly, I swear-"

"Too late. Sent." He pocked his phone with a sigh. Glancing over at his friend, he asked, "So yes World of Waffles or no?"

"I hate you," Owen told him then. "Like, really, really hate you. Deep down hate you."

"How much will you hate me when Annabel loves the necklace I picked out? Huh? Huh?" Rolly yawned as his phone buzzed again. Reaching into his pocket, he quickly read the text Annabel had sent back to him. "Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh what?"

"Um…We might need to swing by your chick's place."

"Why?"

"Do you need a reason to see the love of your life? No. So let's go," Rolly reasoned. "Unless, like, you're gonna take me to World of Waffles. Because-"

"Hold on," Owen sighed, pulling into a parking lot to turn around. "I really don't like you right now."

"Yeah, I know."

By the time they pulled up to his girlfriend's house, Owen wanted nothing more than to strangle his friend. Rolly just whistled as he hopped out of the car, even throwing in a little skip as he headed up to the door.

"Wipe your shoes," Annabel ordered as she opened the front door. "And take off your coats. I don't want snow in the house."

"We're not staying long."

"Did I ask how long you're staying?"

"Ooh, spicy," Rolly commented, kicking off his boots before wiggling out off his coat. "I-"

"Shut up," Owen said as he made it up to the porch. To his girlfriend, he said, "I told him not to send it."

"Do you two idiots know what fuckable means?"

"It means your hot, babe," Rolly told her as he headed further into the house. "Ooh, it's toasty in here."

"No," Annabel said as Owen came into the house too, shutting the door behind him. "It's means that the girl is ugly, but you'd still have sex with her."

"What?" Rolly was over by the couch by that point, relaxing. "Since when?"

"Since always."

Owen just moved to kiss his girlfriend, who didn't pull him in, but didn't push him away either. "I didn't call you that."

"You shut up." She patted his chest then, watching as he unzipped his coat and hung it on the rack. "Why are the two of you even together?"

"We were getting your present," Rolly called from the living room.

"You were what?"

Owen glared over at his friend. "Thanks, Rolly."

"No problem, bro."

"Where is it? Is it in the car?" She moved to walk passed her boyfriend and out the door, but he grabbed her around the middle, pulling her to him before beginning to walk towards the living room. "Owen-"

"Is it our anniversary yet? No."

"I don't care. I want it now."

"Then I want my videogame now."

"I told you that I wasn't buying you that."

"What? I don't remember you saying you weren't."

"Well, I did."

"Then I'm taking your gift back."

"No, that's not how it works."

"That is how it-"

"Hey, guys?" Rolly called to them. "Can I have hot chocolate? If we're staying or whatever. And I think we should. I'm comfy."

Annabel glared over at him. "I am not fuckable."

"I'd fuck you."

"Hey." Owen let her go then, going into the living room as well. "Knock it off. It's not funny anymore."

Rolly just wiggled his toes. "Whatever. Can you make me hot chocolate now, Annabel? Please? I'll be good."

Owen followed his girlfriend into the kitchen, sending one last glare his friend's way. To Annabel though, he said, "You don't have to be so nice to him."

"What makes you think I'm not going to spit in his hot chocolate?"

He made a face at her as he went to get the hot chocolate packets out of the cabinet while his girlfriend put some water on to boil.

"Where are your parents?" he asked her as he went to get out coffee mugs as well.

"Mom's shopping and Dad's at work still. Some big project or something. Mom'll be home soon though."

"What'd she go shopping for?"

"Nothing serious," she told her boyfriend, shaking her head. "Just shopping."

"It's Tuesday," he told her. "Only a few more days until break."

"Yeah," she sighed. "I know."

"What?"

"I'm just worried."

"About?"

"…You."

"What about me?"

"Your grades, Bear," she told him as they both sat down at the kitchen table to await the boiling water. "You're not-"

"I don't need you to worry about me, Annabel."

"I know that you don't 'need' me to, but I'm going to." She just stared at him. "I love you, Bear."

"Love you too," he mumbled, very aware of his friend in the other room.

When Annabel's mother finally got home, all three teens were in the living room, sipping on the hot chocolate. She seemed to be in a pretty decent mood, telling the boys hello and telling them that they just had to stay for dinner. And even though Owen really didn't want his friend staying, he also knew it would be rude to say no. Plus, his mother was home and no doubt was planning on making some vegan crap. Yuck.

It wasn't until Grace got a phone call that she even spoke to them again. And even then, it was in a clipped tone and directed towards her daughter.

"Annabel," she began as she returned to the living room, phone in hand. "Your sister just called and needs someone to bring her something."

"Something?"

Grace rolled her eyes as all the kids looked up at her. "Some winter clothes from her closet here."

"Why can't she come get them?"

"She says she doesn't have the time. And you know I would love to go down there, but she told me that she wants you. I don't know why it matters."

Even Owen knew that Whitney didn't particularly like her mother's obsession with her. Not to mention that secret boyfriend thing.

"Do I have to do it today?" Annabel asked, frowning. "It's getting late, Mom."

She hesitated at that before her eyes settled on the two boys on the couch. "Surely you guys can all together, right?"

Owen nodded without any thought. "I can. Rolly has to get home though."

"He does?" Rolly asked, elbowing his friend, as they were all three on the couch, Owen in the middle.

"He does," he said, nodding his head. "Remember? That thing with your mom?"

"N-" He stopped as Owen elbowed him a lot harder than he had the other boy. "I mean, yes. Yes, I do remember."

"We can drop him off on the way, I guess," Annabel said slowly, glancing at the two of them before at her mom. "If you pack up all the stuff, Mom."

"Of course. I'll go do that."

While she was gone, Annabel looked to her boyfriend.

"Are you sure that you can go with me, Owen?" she asked then. "Because-"

"Of course I can. What else would I do?"

"How come I can't go?" Rolly asked from Owen's other side. "Huh?"

"Because I said."

"Don't seem fair."

"Life isn't fair," Owen told him. Then, to Annabel, he said, "Can we take your car though? The Land Cruiser's been braking down a lot recently."

"Of course, Owen."

"I still don't get why I can't go," Rolly mumbled, shaking his head slightly. "Seems like you're picking favorites here, bro."

"I am. I like Annabel more than you."

"You're just saying that."

"No, Rolly, I'm not."

* * *

"Mom said I was to feed the two of you," Whitney was saying as she opened the door to her apartment, allowing them in. "But I was just going to order Chinese. Is that fine?"

"Yeah," Annabel told her as Owen shifted the box in his arms. "Here's your stuff."

"Thank you, Owen. Can you set it down by the couch? Thank you." Whitney shut the door behind them before heading off towards the kitchen that opened up from the living room. "I'm so glad you did this, Annabel, instead of Mom."

"What? Is Lucas here?" Annabel asked, taking a seat on the couch, her boyfriend quickly following her lead.

"We're not speaking currently."

"What?" Annabel looked into the kitchen area. "What happened?"

"Nothing happened, Annabel," Whitney said as she dug through a pile of takeout menus on her counter. "We're both adults. He hadn't been talking to me for over a week and then wanted to call me to come over. I'm not a booty call."

Owen just sat facing forwards, really wishing he had opted to stay in the car. Seriously. Did they just think they could say anything in front of him?

"So you guys didn't fight or anything?" Annabel asked. "What did you tell him?"

"I told him just what I said. I'm not a booty call. Not being exclusive is one thing. Completely ignoring me for two weeks and then thinking I should come over in the middle of the night is another."

"You think he was seeing other people?"

"I don't know," her sister told her. "We never talked about it."

"Were you seeing other guys?"

"No."

"Then why do you think he was?"

"Why else would he not talk to me for that long? Not even text me? Or answer the door when I knocked?"

"Didn't you guys swap keys?"

Whitney glared over at her sister then. "I'm not just going to barge in there, Annabel. If he doesn't want to be with me, that's fine. Just don't think that I'm going to hook up with you again. I'm not just waiting around for him."

"What did he tell you?"

"He keeps calling me, but I haven't been answering."

"Maybe he's apologetic," Annabel offered up. "I mean, have you given him a chance?"

"He wouldn't answer my calls, wouldn't reply to my texts, didn't answer the door when I knocked, thought that I should just go over there and fuck with him when he's ready-"

"You haven't heard his side."

"You just don't get it," she finally dismissed her sister with a shake of her head.

Annabel glanced at Owen who smiled at her. They could hear her sister in the kitchen then, ordering Chinese food over the phone. Owen just moved to wrap an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders, kissing her head as he snuggled against his side.

"Did you text your mom? Tell her that you went with me?" Annabel asked her boyfriend then softly. "So that she wasn't expecting you?"

"I told her I was going to go somewhere," he told her. "Let her fill in the blanks."

"It'll be thirty minutes," Whitney said as she came back over to them. She just picked up the box before heading to another door and going through it.

Owen assumed it was her bedroom. While she was in there though, Annabel jumped up and told him that she was going to be in the restroom. She did give him the remote before she went though, telling him to watch whatever he wanted. Part of him was still apprehensive though, knowing that it wasn't Annabel's house, but rather her sister. Still, when Whitney came out of her room, she just went to take her place on the other end of the couch, pulling her legs up while staring at the TV.

Not even asking about her sister, Whitney said, "I got tickets to that band that you like."

"What band?"

"That one that-" She paused as her there was a knock at the door. Frowning as she got to her feet, she said, "Can't be the takeout guy already."

Owen just watched as she went to answer the door, not really caring as his attention drifted back to the football game he had on. Whitney was an adult; he assumed she had guests all the time. It was kind of the teenage mentality that he had that led him to that conclusion. All teens thought when you got your own place, you had parties and friends and stayed up late. Or at least Owen did.

"Oh, I'm shocked. You actually know how to knock on a door?"

Owen glanced back over at the now open door, seeing a tall guy in front of Whitney, dressed in a button-up shirt and a pair of dark jeans. He had something in his hands and looked pretty sharp. Owen never looked that good in a dress shirt…

"Of course I do. I-"

"Then why the hell haven't you been able to do it this whole-"

"I brought you a flower." He held out the white rose in his hands, smiling at her.

"You brought me a flower," she said dryly.

"Take it. I brought if for you. Careful. Thorns and all."

She took the flower slowly, still just staring at him. "Most guys would buy something better than a stupid flower."

"Babe, I'm not most guys."

"Really now."

The guy's resolve broke slightly as he smile deflated. "I couldn't buy you anything else. You don't eat candy, you don't really eat anything, you're real particular about music so I couldn't get you a CD-"

"You could have at least gotten a bouquet." Whitney bent down then, turning slightly as she smelt the rose. "I-"

"Who the hell is he?"

For the first time, the man actually looked into the apartment, his eyes easily landing on the boy on the couch. Bucking up slightly, the guy took a step to go into the apartment, but Whitney blocked him.

"He's seventeen. Knock it off."

"Eighteen," Owen said from the couch, slightly offended. He was clearly a man now. Clearly.

"I don't care how old you are. What the hell are you-"

"It's my sister's boyfriend."

"Oh, whatever."

"He is!"

"Then where is she?"

"She's…" Whitney turned then, looking to Owen. He was just staring at the guy in the doorway though, glaring back at him.

"You're almost out of soap, Whitney," Annabel said then as she came out of the bathroom finally, smiling at her boyfriend before looking at the open front door. "Oh, hi, Lucas."

He just stared at her for a moment before glaring at Owen again. Owen still wouldn't break his gaze though, angry that the guy thought he could possibly intimidate Owen. Where the man had muscle, Owen had size.

"Why the heck would it matter anyways?" Whitney turned back to look at the man as Annabel took her place on the couch next to her boyfriend. "I can invite whoever I want over."

"Oh, can you?"

"Yeah, Luke, I can."

He let out a short breath then, staring at her. "I don't-"

"You wouldn't talk to me for, what? Eighteen days? As far as I'm concerned-"

"I went out of town."

"You never told me you were-"

"I swear to God I did. I-"

"You wouldn't return my texts-"

"I told you, I left my phone on the plane. It was hell to get back and-"

"You could have called me."

"I told you I was leaving. God. You-"

"You never told me."

"Just come on, Whitney. I'll take you to dinner, we can talk. Baby-"

"I'm not your baby, Lucas." She turned from him when he tried to touch her cheek. "I'm not your anything."

"Whit-"

"And I'm definitely not your boot call."

Lucas laughed then, probably thinking she was kidding or something. It pissed Whitney off though as she walked away from him then, heading off towards her bedroom.

"Whit-"

"Don't," she told him, not looking over her shoulder. At her bedroom door, she paused, if only for a moment. "You're going to close the door, go to the store, buy me way more than just a stupid flower, and then come back later. Right now though, I want nothing to do with you."

Owen wasn't sure who slammed the door louder, Whitney as she headed into her bedroom or Lucas as he left the apartment. Either way, he and Annabel just looked at each other, a slight bemused smile on their faces.

"Do we sound that silly when we fight?"

Owen nuzzled his head into her neck. "Of course not. We only have mature fights. And you'll never be my booty call."

She giggled softly, not wanting to be overheard by her older sister. "Boot call. Who the hell says that?"

"Whitney apparently."

They were both still for a moment before Owen moved back some to look at that TV.

"So," he said slowly. "Is she expecting me to pay for dinner?"

"Shut up, Bear."

As it turned out, she wasn't. Still, Owen did chip in even at the older woman's insistence that she had it. He was the guy after all.

Whitney didn't have a kitchen table, but she did have a coffee table, which they sat the takeout boxes on, sitting on the couch with their plates. The TV had been switched over to some reality show and Owen was mostly focused on his food by that point. There was nothing that annoyed him more than reality television, but both Whitney and Annabel were engrossed in it, so he kept quiet.

Around the time Annabel got up to get a soda for herself and her boyfriend, there was another knock at the door. Whitney started to say not to answer it, but Annabel got there before she could get it out.

"Am I allowed in?"

Annabel started at the guy in the doorway for a moment before looking back at her sister. "He looks really sorry."

Whitney just sighed. "What do you have, Luke?"

"I got you a case of water, 'cause you refuse to drink out of the tap like a normal person," he began as Annabel allowed him into the apartment. He immediately went into the kitchen to set the water down, coming back with a plastic bag full of something. "I bought you those flavor packets that you like to put in your water that you can't get from the tap because you're a freak, I got myself a candy bar, your sister and her boyfriend a candy bar, a bag of chips since you said we weren't eating dinner, some massage oil-"

"Lucas."

"Well, I did." He held the bag out to her. "And I got some more, uh, _things_ too."

She peeked into the bag. "You might as well say condoms. It's not like you're very good at hiding what you're talking about."

Owen made a face at Annabel, but she was watching her sister, more interested in the drama unfolding than the awkwardness that her boyfriend was feeling.

"Yeah, well," Lucas said with a shrug, staring down at her. "I was out."

"I wonder why."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Your little trip tire you out?"

He made a face at her. "I didn't do anything while I was there except visit my family. This was the only time I could-"

"I've met your family. It doesn't require a plane trip. Hardly a car ride."

"I have other family. I went to see my older brother and his wife. I-"

"You never even told me where you went. You-"

"Okay, babe, you can keep cutting me off if you'd like, but I'm not going to sit here and argue with me." He reached out, taking the plastic bag from her. "Me, my candy, my chips, my massage oil, and my condoms are going home. You can keep your stupid rich person water though. I'm not a snob like you."

Owen never wanted to leave a room more. Honestly. If they mentioned that massage oil one more time, he was going to die of embarrassment. And they didn't even seem that awkward about talking about it in front of him and Annabel! Maybe he was the weird one. Maybe.

…Nah.

"Go to hell, Luke."

"Oh me go to hell. Okay." He reached into the bag, tossing a candy bar at Owen and another at Annabel. "What do you want me to do, Whitney? You say I didn't tell you? Fine. Let's pretend I didn't. You say I purposely didn't call you? Fine, let's go with that too. And you think I fucked around on you? Alright, cool. Now what? Now what do you want-"

"Fucked around on me would imply that you haven't been with someone the whole time we've been together."

His eyes went dark. "And you have?"

"No. Rude."

"I'm rude?" He shook his head at her. "Do you really think I've been with someone else this whole time? Multiple people? That'd I'd really want to put up with another woman when you're so _aggravating_ all the time-"

"Do you really want me to believe that you haven't had sex since we last did?"

"Yeah, babe, I do." He was staring so hard at her, almost as hard as Annabel was listening. Owen had suddenly formed a fascination with fried rice, which he was scoping more of onto his plate. "I haven't had sex in twenty-three days. Believe me, I would know if I had."

She looked off. "How was I supposed to know that, Luke? You never told me-"

"I never told you that I wanted to be with you? Because I do. Only you. I mean, God, I just assumed that was implied, Whit. We've been together since, what? July? June?" He shook his head slightly. "I'm serious about you, baby. Way more than you are about me."

"Oh whatever."

"You've met my mother, I took you to my nephew's birthday party, you went to-"

"So what?"

"You won't even tell your family about me."

"I told you-"

"I know what you told me. And that's fine. I don't care. But don't give me bullshit about me not caring about you when it's clearly the other way around. Got it?"

"Luke, don't go," she sighed as he headed to the door. "Just… Are you hungry?"

"Am I hungry?" He snorted. "Do you know me at all?"

"Then here, eat the rest of mine," she said, holding her plate out to him. "I'm no hungry."

"You never are."

"Mmmm." She stood then, still acting coolly towards her boyfriend. He just took her seat, dropping the plastic bag on the ground before digging into her food. Owen was finally free to relax again, assuming the worst of it was over.

"Ew, you bought the store brand."

Lucas rolled his eyes, not even looking over at Whitney. "It's water, babe. What's the difference?"

"The difference is how it tastes."

"You're crazy, you know that? Never happy."

"You went to the freaking gas station and bought random crap."

"In an attempt to please you," he said, clearly offended. "I could have just bought you nothing, you know."

"You'd be eating alone if you had."

Lucas grunted before glancing to his side at Annabel. "What'd the two of you come over for anyways? Surely it wasn't for her sparkling personality?"

"They just bought me some stuff from home, Lucas. God. It's really none of your business," Whitney told him. When Owen glanced back towards the little kitchen area, he saw that she was putting the water the man had bought her in the fridge.

"She's angry with me now," Lucas told the two teens on the couch with him. "You just wait. Putty when you guys leave."

"Seriously, knock it off before I kick you out," Whitney told him. "Honestly."

Annabel just smiled at Lucas while Owen tuned back into the television. Never did he think he would want to actually watch a reality show. Those Kardashians were looking pretty good at that second though…

"It's getting late, Annabel," Whitney told her a few minutes later when she got up to take her and Owen's plates to the sink. "And it's snowing. Will the two of you be alright getting home?"

"It's just snow, Whitney," she told her. "Besides, we have to get home. We have school in the morning."

"Well, I'd feel better if the two of you just left now."

"I was going to wash-"

"I can do it," she assured her sister before glancing over at Owen who was getting up from the couch then. "Thank you two though for bringing me those things. Text me when you get home, Annabel."

"Sure."

Even as the two of them left, Annabel and Owen could hear Lucas and Whitney grumbling at one another. Still, the night was getting late and it wasn't exactly pleasant out side, so Annabel knew she had to go. Not to mention Owen wanted nothing more than to get the heck out of there, wanting nothing to do with the inevitable argument the two adults were going to get into once more after they left.

Interlacing his fingers with Annabel as they left the apartment building, Owen said, "At least she fed us."

"At least."

"And hey, for someone being grounded, I'm sure having a fun time."

"You are," Annabel agreed. "Then again I don't know much about being grounded."

"Yeah," Owen sighed. "I figured."

* * *

**Late, but long. Seems to be my mantra recently…**


	7. Chapter 7

Winter Freeze

Chapter 7

The last day of school before it let out for break was full of exams. When that was finally over, Owen had to go to work. Again. He hated work almost as much as school. Before that though, he had to take his girlfriend home.

"They say it's going to ice tonight," Annabel was saying as they drove down the road, some acoustic music playing softly in the background. "Be careful, you know, when you're delivering pizzas."

"It's Friday night," he told her. "Did you want me to stop by your place after? With a pizza and some soda?"

"You should just go home, Bear. It's supposed to be pretty bad." She smiled at him then. "Besides, we have the rest of break to be together, right?"

He nodded slightly, not feel up for talking. Not when, you know, his whole high school future hung in the balance. He wasn't so dead set against graduating. It seemed like a smart thing to do. But he was not making up classes. He just wasn't.

"Whitney text me last night that she thinks she's going to bring Lucas to Christmas," Annabel went on when it was clear he wasn't going to say anything. "She thinks then will be a good idea to introduce him. I told her I would wait until Kirsten's around though. You know how tense Dad is around Kirsten. Whitney having a boyfriend will just fly over his head."

Owen really wanted her to shut up. This was mainly due to the fact that he couldn't care less about Whitney and her lie. She was the one that wouldn't just tell her parents she was dating someone. It really wasn't that big of a deal. Or at least it shouldn't be. Even though Owen wasn't very fond of him, Lucas seemed like he at least liked Whitney. He even seemed pretty possessive when he thought Owen was some guy hanging out with her. Why shouldn't she date him?

"I don't know though, you know?" Annabel just kept talking, apparently not caring that Owen didn't care at all. "I would think that Dad would already be upset and that when Whitney told them about Lucas, he'll just get more upset."

"I don't really see why it matters."

"What do you mean?"

"You sister's an adult. Lucas isn't, like, abusing her. Your dad's opinion isn't really important."

Annabel rolled her eyes at that. "You just don't get it."

"No," he said slowly. "I think that you guys are making more out of this than needs be."

"Whatever, Owen. Never mind."

He just reached forward to nudge up the volume on his stereo. Rolling her eyes heavily, Annabel crossed her arms, letting him know right off the bat that she was upset with him. The thing she didn't seem to get though was that Owen didn't care. He really didn't. The day had been long and brutal. In less than twenty minutes, Annabel would be at home and he'd be at work, where he'd suffer through horrible tips and a dick boss just to go home alone and try to sleep off the horrible funk he had been in recently. Winter break was a blessing, sure, but it could just as quickly be turned into a frozen hell.

When they pulled up to his girlfriend's house, she got out without a second thought. She didn't even thank him for the ride! Now annoyed, Owen didn't even wait for her to get into her house like he usually would. She was the one that was causing problems, not him. She kept insisting on talking about stuff that he didn't care about. Why was that his fault?

Work was a drag like usual. Annabel never even texted him an apology, so there was no way he was bringing her a stupid pizza. She was being mean to him, not the other way around.

When Owen finally got home, he found that no one was around. Recently his mother and sister had begun to not even tell him when they wouldn't be home. Part of it probably stemmed from the way he had treated his younger sister that day she broke his Ipod, but he wasn't sure. Maybe they just thought he didn't care anymore. And did he?

After scrambling up and eating some eggs, Owen went into his bedroom where he soon passed out, not even turning on his stereo first. He stayed that way too, asleep, until five the next morning. Even then he just woke up to pee. While he was up though, he went ahead and checked his phone, shocked to find that he had missed a few calls from Annabel. Great.

Grumbling as he headed into the kitchen to get a soda, Owen sent her a text telling her that he was up if she wanted to talk. He didn't even feel up to listening to the messages that she had left on his phone. He had no doubt that they would be filled with hysterics and accusations. He wasn't the one that wasn't feeling it that afternoon, it was her. She didn't want to hear about how she was wrong and he was right. Whitney's relationship secret was caused purely by her own devices.

While he was in the kitchen, popping a bag of popcorn and sipping on a soda, Owen's phone went off. He knew immediately it was Annabel calling him back and pulled his phone out.

"Hello?"

"Where were you?"

"Sleeping."

"Bull."

"Where do you think I was, Annabel?" he asked, not really up for the fight at the moment. "A party? A girl's house? Fucking someone? What?"

She let out a long breath. "You didn't answer when I called."

"Did I not just tell you that I was sleeping?"

"You're always sleeping, but you wake up and answer when I call."

"Well, this time I didn't. I'm sorry. I've been really stressed, Bell, and haven't been sleeping much. So I crashed after work and exams and our fight-"

"We didn't fight."

"We fought."

"No."

"You wouldn't even tell me goodbye," he pointed out. "That's a fight."

"We just weren't talking."

"No," he said slowly. "You weren't talking to me. I would have gladly spoken to you, told you goodbye, kissed you goodbye. You wouldn't talk to me though."

"I don't remember it that way."

"You rarely do," he sighed as the microwave dinged. Going to pull out his popcorn, he asked, "What did you want anyways?"

"You always call me to say goodnight," she told him. "When you didn't call, I called you...multiple times."

"Why are you whispering?"

"It's, like, five in the morning, Bear."

Bear. She wasn't mad at him anymore. Good.

"So?"

"So, I don't want my parents to know that I'm up talking to you."

"Uh, Bell, an hour or so from now on Monday we'll be driving to the studio."

"I guess you're right," she mumbled.

"Of course I am," he insisted. "Besides, it's not like we're talking about sex things or something. Unless you, like, want to talk about sex things. Because I'm horny."

"You are not."

"Not this second, no, but I can get horny relatively quickly. It ties in with the teenaged boy thing."

"Boy?"

"Man."

"The teenaged man? Yeah, I don't think that's real."

"It is real. It's me."

"Whatever."

"It's me."

She let out a long breath. "Are you going to come over today?"

"I didn't plan on it."

"Then did you want me to come over to see you?"

"If you want."

"Owen-"

"Annabel, I don't know what you want me to say."

"Just tell me if you want to hangout with me or not."

"Not," he said. "Just not today, alright? Let's just…take a break today."

"What are you going to do all day, Owen, that you don't want me to know about?"

"I'm not going to do anything," Owen said, frowning at her tone. "I just don't want to hangout tomorrow. Why is that so hard to believe?"

"Just tell me what it is that you want to do?"

"Nothing. Just not be around you for the day. God, can I not just be alone for the day? It's like if I'm off and not with Mallory, you expect me to be with you. That's not the way it works, Annabel."

"I'm not the one who made it that way," she argued, as he knew she would. She could never just accept things as fact when they painted her in a bad light. "You-"

"Then if you don't want it this way either, why are you fighting for it?" Owen snorted. "You know as well as I do that you just want me around constantly so you're not alone. You have no one else, anyways."

There was a long pause on her end, tipping Owen off that he had crossed the line. Really though, when didn't he? She seemed to have the thinnest line of anyone he had ever met. Either that or there was just no line at all and everything offended her. That was a pretty high possibility as well.

"You know what, Owen? Fine. Let's not hangout tomorrow."

"Annabel-"

"And I'm not going to be feeling well, say, tomorrow morning around seven?"

"You can't possibly know-"

"So you can do your stupid little show alone."

"You-"

"I'm mean, it's not like it matters if I'm there or not. What? Will all of two listeners notice my absence?"

His expression grew dark. "You-"

"Besides, I need to finish working on my shows for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. You know, shows that actually drawl in listeners?"

"Fuck you then, Annabel. I don't want you to go anyways."

"Good, because I won't be going."

"Good."

"Good."

He hung up after that, sure that Annabel did the same. Then, heading off to his room, he immediately turned on his stereo before getting back into bed. Sitting there munching on his popcorn angrily on the bed, Owen didn't feel an ounce of remorse. He did start to worry, however, about how Annabel would perceive their fight in the long run. His anger was usually heavy, but fleeting. He knew that probably before sunrise he would be ready to make up and out. Annabel was a totally different story altogether.

"Great," he grumbled as he finished with his popcorn and tossed the bag to the ground, planning on retrieving it in the morning for disposal. Now Annabel was going to be super mad at him for all of break. If, you know, she even spoke to him at all.

Still, Owen saw himself as being more of the victim once again. He didn't want to hangout together Saturday. So what? Why was that considered some kind of Cardinal sin to her? Was he so out of line to accuse her of needing him to be around just so she could say she wasn't alone? Because that was totally it. He knew that it was. She was constantly afraid of being alone, of being a loser. Why did it fall on Owen's shoulders to constantly hangout with her? Last time he checked, she was the more popular one of the two of them. Or at least she should have been. It wasn't his fault that she spent the years under Sophie's regime making enemies.

Rolling onto his side, Owen shut his eyes and hoped to God that he had just dreamed the whole sequence and when he woke up in the morning they would be getting along again.

* * *

It should come as no surprise to anyone that God didn't seem to like Owen much.

When he woke up, the first thing he did was check his cell phone. And of course Annabel had turned her off, or so he found out when he tried to call it. Not only that, but she had also left him another, long voicemail, basically telling him off and outlining her plans for their future or rather lack there of.

"Double great," he grumbled as he got out of bed, making sure to grab the bag of popcorn on his way out of the room. Now he had to spend his previously free Saturday making up to his overly high maintenance girlfriend. Had you told Owen when he and Annabel first got together that he would ever dread seeing her, he wouldn't have believed you for a second. Now that he was in that position though…

After a quick shower, unnecessary shave, and way too much Axe, Owen was out the door, not even finding it odd that he had stayed alone the whole night, never even getting a call from his mother. Maybe she was really done with him. Huh.

It was nearing noon by the time Owen got to his girlfriend's house, the day overcast and dreary. They were going to probably have more snow or something later in the day. Owen didn't know. Watching the news bored him tremendously.

When he knocked at the door, Owen honestly thought that Annabel wouldn't answer. He had seen her through the big glass front of the house, watching TV, when he pulled up. She had made eye contact with him the whole time he walked up the drive and to the door, never moving from her spot from the couch. He wasn't expecting much and as a last resort figured he'd go tap on the glass in the living room if nothing else got her attention.

"What do you want?" Annabel asked, opening the door on the first knock, much to the surprise of her boyfriend.

"To come inside at the moment," he said, before nodding down at the box in his hands. "I brought donuts. Glazed, sprinkles, chocolate covered."

"You're not coming in," she told him simply, crossing her arms.

"Please?"

"Owen, I'm leaving soon anyways."

He made a face. Though the original plan for the day was for them to both do their own thing, he did not like the idea of her 'going out' without him. He wanted her to stay home and, like, do homework or something. Not actually go out! And what if she thought she was going out with that James freak or something? Or Rolly?

…Spending off days away from his girlfriend was starting to seem like a bad idea…

"Where are you going?" he asked, not able to keep the suspicion out of his tone.

"To Whitney's," she told him.

"Oh, good." He let out a breath. "I thought you had, like, real plans or something."

Her face hardened even more, if possible. "Goodbye, Owen."

"Bella-"

"No. You're being a jerk. Go home and-"

"Is that Owen?" he heard her mother call from somewhere.

"He was jut leaving," Annabel responded. "He-"

"Can I at least give you these donuts?" Owen held them out to her. "Come in and set them down? Please? I bought them for you."

Groaning, she took a step back. "Shoes and coat off."

"Aye-aye," he said, knowing that taking off his jacket would lead to him staying longer. "You want me to put them on the-"

"Whatever, Owen."

It wasn't until he got to the kitchen that Owen saw Annabel's parents. They were both sitting at the table, Mr. Greene sipping a cup of coffee while reading the paper. When he saw that white box though, he immediately knew what it was filled with and called his daughter's boyfriend over.

"Owen," he said, greeting the boy in an unusually peppy tone. Owen knew from some of Annabel's stories that her father was a typically happy man. Not to mention that time they spent together playing all those Nintendo games. Still, since that pre-Summer revelation, he had been very cool towards the teen. Which was fine. Owen wasn't too fond of him either.

"Drew, remember that we're watching what we eat," Grace quipped in as her husband reached into the box to pull himself out a donut.

"It's just one, Grace."

"Mmmm."

"Okay," Annabel said as she came into the room just as her boyfriend was going to set the box on the counter. "I have to go now, Owen. So leave."

"Annabel," her mother scolded with a frown.

"Well, hold on now, Annabel," her father was saying then. "Owen, what are you doing today?"

He glanced at his girlfriend before at her father. "Nothing as of now."

"Great."

"Andrew-"

"I was going to have to drive Grace and Annabel all the way to Whitney's apartment," the man said, speaking right over his wife. "Because Whitney has the other car and we need it back. So if you're doing nothing-"

"He was just saying that to be kind, Dad," Annabel said then. "He has something to do today. If you really don't want to go, I told you that I can drive the car back-"

"And I told you that I don't want you driving on the ice."

"But you want him to?"

"I can do it," Owen insisted. Really, he just wanted an excuse to be with Annabel, even if that was the exact opposite of what he wanted only mere hours before.

"Really, Owen, you don't have to."

"Grace," her husband began. "He just said that he wanted to."

"I do," he said, nodding. "I have nothing better to do."

"You sure did before," Annabel commented dryly.

"Well, now he doesn't and I can stay and watch the game." Andrew stood up to go grab another donut. "It all works out."

"Is that why you don't want to go so badly?"

"Yes, Grace," her husband replied, voice taut then. "It is. But if you're going to force me to go-"

"I've never forced you to do anything." Grace stood then before heading out of the kitchen. "We leave in thirty minutes, kids."

"I hate you so much."

That was the first thing out of Annabel's mouth once they were alone in the kitchen. She was staring at him, glaring heavily at him, arms crossed. Owen just went to get himself a donut.

"Do you hear me, Owen? Because I do. I-"

"Fine, you hate me. Whatever," he said, turning towards the fridge. "Can I get a coke?"

She kept on glaring at him. "I am not going to the studio with you tomorrow."

"Then don't. Who cares?" He pulled the coke out before facing her. "Do you want to break up?"

"No, I-"

"Then knock it off." He took a long sip of his coke before smiling at her. "You should be happy anyways."

"Why?" she asked slowly.

"Your mother's going to Whitney's," he reasoned.

"And?"

"She might see, you know, that guy. And that-"

"Oh, shit," Annabel mumbled, glancing towards the living room before up the stairs. "God, I didn't even think about that."

"Surely your mother called Whitney to tell her that she was coming, right?" Owen asked, frowning slightly.

"I don't know. I don't think so."

"What?"

Groaning, Annabel rushed out of the room and up the stairs, no doubt going to get her phone. Shrugging, Owen took his coke and donut with him into the living room.

"How many wrecks you been in?"

Owen frowned at his girlfriend's father as he sat down on the couch. "None."

"Tickets?"

"One for speeding when I first got my license back in Arizona. Paid."

"I'm trusting you to get my car back in here in one piece. Not to mention my wife and daughter."

Owen just nodded as the man put the television on the pre-game. "Will do."

"I'm serious," Andrew insisted. "Don't wreck my car and do not kill my daughter."

Those seemed to be the most basic of guidelines there were. Owen just nodded, taking another bite of his donut. Don't kill his daughter. Right.

"Are you all ready to go, kids?" Grace came into the room some time later, all bundled up in a heavy coat. "Where's Annabel, Owen?"

"Uh-"

"Right here."

She came rushing down the stairs after her mother, quickly coming into the living room. "I'm ready."

Standing, Owen went to throw away his trash before heading to the door to get his coat and boots.

"Are we taking my car, or-"

"Oh, Owen, is that the jacket you're wearing?"

Owen glanced over at Grace before nodding. "Well, yeah."

"It's so thin. You won't get cold, sweetheart?" Grace seemed honestly concerned, going over to the hall closet then. "I'm sure Andrew has a coat that will fit you in here. Hold on-"

"I'm really fine," Owen assured her as he went to lace up his boots better. "I'll be in the car anyways."

"Well," Grace sighed reluctantly. "If you're sure. It just doesn't look too cozy."

"It's fine, Mom," Annabel complained, still glued to her phone as she went to open the front door. "Let's just go."

"I suppose I know what to get you for Christmas then," Grace told Owen then. He almost blushed for some reason, just from the way she was treating him. All nice and stuff. Annabel just rolled her eyes, heading out of the door.

"We're taking my car," Annabel told Owen. "Whitney has Mom's. That's the one she's going to drive back. Here's my keys."

"Why can't we take Owen's car, dear?" Grace asked as she closed and locked the door behind them.

"It's filled with CDs," Annabel told him.

"Surely-"

"It's just best this way, Mom."

"Well, Owen doesn't need to drive yet, does he? I can, if-"

"I can," Owen assured her. "Or you. Whatever."

"Just drive, Owen," Annabel ordered, thrusting the keys into his hand before going over to her car. "Since you freaking invited yourself-"

"Annabel, leave the attitude here, alright?" Her mother shook her head. "Honestly."

Owen really thought that Grace was going to sit in the back and Annabel in the passenger seat…until Annabel got into the back, still texting on her phone. Whatever. Owen really wasn't concerned at all. Grace was being extremely kind to him. That was good enough at the moment.

"Do you like classical music, Owen?" Grace asked him once they were in the car, her playing with the radio until the she found the station. "It's all I really enjoy."

"I like it fine," he told her, nodding. She smiled at him then.

"Andrew hates when I play it," she told him. "He only likes to listen to the sports station. Or that nasty rock music."

"Classic rock?"

She just sighed. "He doesn't like for anybody to play with the radio."

Annabel caught Owen's eye in the review mirror, making a face at him, he just focused on pulling out of the driveway though.

The car ride was mostly silent, Annabel focusing on his phone, and Grace listening to her music. It was just as well though, as Owen really didn't know what to say to either of them. He did need a little help with the directions at one point, but overall, things were going okay. Traffic wasn't great, but it hadn't begun snowing yet, which was nice.

"Mom, are you sure we should be here?" Annabel asked as they neared the apartment complex. "Whitney hasn't texted me back and I tried to call her to tell her that we were coming-"

"I have a key, Annabel. If she's not home, we'll wait."

"Owen might not want to-"

"Then he can go ahead and drive this car back," Grace told her daughter. "You can go along if you want too. But I am getting my car back from Whitney today. I need it."

"But if she's not there-"

"I just told you that I have a key."

"Still," her youngest went on, obviously not wanting her mother to stumble upon Whitney's secret. "It's kind of an invasion of privacy, you know? To go in without-"

"Andrew and I are paying for this apartment. Or at least some of it. I can go in as I please."

"Mom-"

"What is your problem today, Annabel?" Grace turned slightly to look at her daughter in the backseat as Owen pulled into the parking lot. "Honestly."

Owen didn't know why, but he too was starting to get nervous about the whole Whitney situation. When he parked, they all slowly got out, Annabel trudging along. With her mother leading them towards the apartment, she hung back, mumbling to her boyfriend.

"I have a bad feeling."

"Maybe she's not home," he offered up.

"Doubt it. She's always home."

"Annabel-"

"I have a feeling she's going to regret not having an apartment where you have to be buzzed in."

Owen shook his head. "What's the worse that could happen? It's the middle of the day. I'm sure he has work or she has-"

"Come on, kids," Grace called over her shoulder. "It's cold out."

Even when they got up to Whitney's door, Annabel looked anxious, if not more so. Owen just stuck his hands in the pockets of his jacket, humming under his breath. This wasn't his family. At any moment, he could walk out to the car and head home. Still, he continued to go along with his girlfriend and her mother, not really knowing how to bow out quietly. Maybe that was his worst quality of all.

"Okay, no one's home," Annabel said not a second after her mother knocked on the door. "Let's-"

"Give her a second, Annabel," Grace scolded, though she herself was rummaging through her purse, no doubt looking for the spare key to the apartment. Grace knocked three more times before the door finally did open. But of course it couldn't be her daughter who answered it. Of course. You know, 'cause it tied in with that who God hates Owen thing. It had to. That was his only explanation at least.

Only Grace wasn't as fast as anyone else. She just smiled apologetically when a shirtless Lucas answered the door. Owen was dismayed to find he had abs, though he wasn't sure why. Though, to his pleasure, they were not well defined. So there…whoever he was arguing with. There.

"I'm sorry," Grace said as Lucas stared blankly out at them, not noticing Annabel at first. "I must have the wrong apartment. I was looking for my daughter Whitney."

Then he blinked and looked at Owen, placing him before the other teen. Lucas stared hard at Annabel for a second, as if willing her to take over. She didn't.

"But, I thought Whitney lived in 4D," Grace mumbled, staring at the number on the door. "But-"

"She does," Annabel said then, nodding her head slightly while staring at Lucas. Then she looked at Owen. "This is just…"

"Are you the cable guy?"

Lucas shot a dagger at Owen for asking him that, but they really had no other plan of attack.

"Uh, yeah," Lucas said, awkward as ever, standing there clad in only his jeans. Stifling a yawn, he said, "Come in."

"I'm confused," Grace said then, taking a step into the apartment. To Owen, in his infinite teenage boy knowledge of porn movies, a shirtless TV guy did not equal a wholesome daughter. "Where is my daughter exactly?"

"She, uh, you know. Is…sleeping?" Lucas looked to Owen, wanting him to supply more answers. He was all out though, as he was totally thinking about porn then and repair guys that got lucky like pizza guys were supposed to, though he never did. …Not that he wanted to or anything, because that was wrong or whatever. So, yeah.

When Annabel stepped in the apartment as well, Owen went ahead and did so too, figuring he had nothing else to lose. He had seen the start of the match, might as well see it through.

"Lucas, I swear to fucking God, can you do nothing right?"

It was then that Whitney came out of the bedroom, dressed in a pair of shorts and an oversized t-shirt.

"I told you, Lacy, that I didn't fucking want to hangout today." She had come out apparently with whoever it was at the door in mind. Only when she saw who it really was, she found out that she was completely wrong. Then all that fight and all those curse words fled her faster than her breath did. "M-Mom. What are you doing here?"

"I came to get my car," Grace said, staring hard at her daughter then, no doubt understanding as the dots connected themselves. "And who is this, exactly?"

Lucas smiled then, real big and cheesy. The gig was up and all that. "I'm-"

"Leaving. You're leaving," Whitney told him then. "Now, preferably."

"Are you having sex with strangers in this apartment?"

And Owen was out. Hearing the word sex from Grace's mouth did him in. Annabel said her family never talked about it, but dang if he didn't hear enough about it from all of them.

"God, Mom, no." Whitney frowned as her as she came further into the living area. "We're dating."

"Since when do you date?"

"Since when do you just barge into my apartment?"

"He answered the door." Grace looked to Lucas then, frowning. His smile had faded before at Whitney's rude words to him, but it suddenly sprang back to life.

"I'm Lucas," he said, holding a hand out to her. Then he saw the way his girlfriend was cutting her eyes at him. Dropping his hand, he said, "And apparently I'm leaving."

"You just told me you were a repair man."

"TV guy," Lucas corrected.

"Luke, leave. Now." Whitney was not playing around anymore. Owen knew from the stories Annabel had told him that under pressure, Whitney usually folded in our herself and walked away, pouting and stomping the whole way. She clearly was out of luck in her current situation, as they were in her apartment; she had nowhere else to go.

Grace took a deep breath then, letting it out slowly. "I need to go to the bathroom."

It was dead silent in the room as she walked across it, headed to the restroom. The second she was in there, Whitney pounced on her younger sister.

"What the hell do you think-"

"I texted, I called, I-"

"I couldn't pay my phone bill. It's not on."

"And that's my fault?"

"Yes!"

Lucas looked to Owen. "When my phone was lost and I didn't get her messages, it wasn't her fault. It was mine."

"Didn't I tell you to leave?" Whitney frowned over at him again.

"Calm down, alright?" Lucas glanced over at the closed bathroom door. "It's okay. Your mom knows now. It's not the end of the world."

She just kept glaring at him. "The TV man, Lucas? Really?"

"That was his doing," he complained, pointing at Owen.

Annabel gasped then, causing everyone to look at her again. "Owen, you lied."

"What?"

She was just staring at him. "You lied to my mom."

"I did not."

"You totally did."

"It wasn't a lie."

"It was a lie."

"I-"

"Would you two shut up?" Whitney huffed slightly, crossing her arms. "Who cares if he lied?"

"I did not lie," he grumbled.

"You did."

"Annabel, knock it off." Whitney turned her eyes to her Lucas once more. Owen could tell from just looking at her that she was only getting more worked up. Lucas was still having a good time though, joking around and finding it all funny. Owen could see that this was probably one of their biggest problems in their relationship. Things that were serious for Whitney were extremely funny to Lucas. Owen could tell that from his last interaction with them.

"Wipe that stupid smile off your face." Whitney landed a weak hit to his chest as Lucas came to stand near her. "This isn't funny."

"You get so stressed about every little thing." He tried to sling an arm around her, but that just got him hit again. Once more, his grin started to falter. "Whit, calm down, alright?"

"You calm down, Lucas," Whitney said, frowning heavily at him. "I don't need to calm down. You just-"

"I just what?" He shook his head at her. "Your mother clearly doesn't care."

"I dunno." Annabel was biting her thumbnail then, no doubt afraid that her sister really was upset with her. "Mom did kinda seem upset."

"Thank you, Annabel," Whitney chipped, shooting her younger sister a look. "I-"

"Whitney."

They all looked up as Grace came out of the bathroom. Well, except for Owen. He was too busy trying to figure out if he really had lied or not. Had he? He didn't feel like he had. And if he had, it had been Annabel's fault. She was the one that got him into the whole mess. Not to mention, it were her lying ways that were influencing him. So there.

"Can I see you for a moment?" the older woman asked then. "In the bedroom."

Whitney bit her lip before just shaking her head. "No."

"No?"

"No," she repeated before going over to the coffee table. "You want your car? Fine. Here's your stupid keys. Just get out."

Her mother just stared at her. "Why are you upset with me?"

"Because-"

"Look, if it's really that serious, I'll just go, alright?" Lucas looked to Whitney before at her mother. "Although, you spoiled your Christmas present."

"What?"

"Lucas," Whitney hissed.

"Lucas was coming to Christmas," Owen blurted out, causing Annabel to elbow him.

"What are you doing?"

"I have to make up for lying before," he said hastily before looking back at Grace. "Whitney's been with Lucas since July."

"What?"

"June-ish," Lucas corrected, nodding.

"Out, Annabel," Whitney said, pointing then. "And take your creepy boyfriend with you."

"He is not…" Annabel just trialed off. "Fine, whatever. Come on, Owen."

"No, stay, kids, since you apparently all know each other so well," Grace said then, throwing up her hands as if in surrender. Then recrossing the room, she went to pick up her car keys. "I'll just go. I-"

"You can't tell Dad," Whitney ordered her mother then.

"And why can't I do that?"

Whitney just stared at her. "Please, Mom?"

Grace let out a long breath as she held the keys in her palm. "It's not that I don't want you to be…happy, Whitney, but- And you are happy, yes?"

"Meh."

"Lucas, knock it off." Whitney hit him again. "Seriously."

"But," Grace continued, apparently getting the answer she wanted. "I don't think that you're…ready for a relationship-"

"Mom, I'm not Annabel, alright?"

"Hey." Her younger sister frowned at her. "What do you mean by that?"

"I'm not a kid," Whitney went on, ignoring her sister. "I-"

"You've went through a lot last year. And the way you've been acting-"

"Acting? How am I acting?"

"Secretive for one," Owen mumbled, causing him to get another death glare courtesy his girlfriend's sister.

"Well," her mother began. "You stopped going to therapy-"

"I don't need it anymore."

"-I have no idea what your eating habits have been-"

"They've been fine."

"-since you never let me come over anymore-"

"I'm an adult," Whitney said then, turning her daggers onto her mother. "I can do whatever I want. If I want to be with Lucas-"

"I don't think that it's appropriate for you currently, dear, to be…'with' someone."

Annabel stifled a giggle into her palm, making Owen elbow her that time.

"Annabel almost got freaking raped and you were all gung-ho about Owen."

"I was not gung-ho about-"

"We're not talking about me," Annabel spoke up quickly, her giggles gone. No way did she want to go down with her sister. She was not the captain; she would abandon ship faster than anyone.

"My point is, Whitney," Grace went on, her annoyance become more clear with her tone, "that you're not ready for a relationship. This…man seems nice enough, but-"

"That's the thing, Mom," Whitney started, her tone nastier than all of theirs. It was rare that she and her mother fought. Usually, Whitney would just ignore her until Grace complied with what she wanted. "He is nice enough and I've decided to date him. You can't control who I date. Not only do I not live under your roof anymore, I'm also grown. I can do what I want. It's my life, not yours."

Again, silence fell as Grace made her way across the living room, back to the door that time. Owen stepped out of the way so she could go out it, but she passed as she opened it.

"Your father will be hearing about this," was her hardly veiled threat before she was gone and the door was shut again.

And then came the hysterical fight between Annabel and Whitney about how that Annabel had screwed her over or something. Owen and Lucas both sat that one out as the fight drifted to the bedroom, Annabel following her sister who had gone in there to get changed. Their argument raged on though, Owen opting to spend the time on the couch, Lucas on the opposite side.

"Is everything this dramatic with them?"

Owen hardly looked at Lucas as he nodded his head. "Yeah. Constantly."

Lucas made a face. "Well, surely this was the worst of it, right?"

He shrugged. "If you don't factor in Kirsten. That's their older sister."

"Right, the pregnant one."

Owen nodded. "You haven't even seen drama until you've seen the stuff she's got going on at the moment."

Making a face, Lucas glancing back at the closed bedroom door, where there was no longer any screaming to be heard.

"Think it's safe to go in there now?" Lucas asked, nodding over at the door. "I'd really liked to get my shit and just go."

"I doubt it. They're probably making up now. Or at least that's how Annabel's fights usually go."

"Whitney doesn't make up," Lucas assured him with an affirmative nod. "She sulks for a awhile and then pretends like the fight didn't matter…until she brings it up again when she's mad about something else."

"Annabel gets mad, but when she knows someone else is mad at her back, usually she gets real…submissive."

"That's a good quality."

"A great one."

The two guys grinned at each other then and for a second Owen forgot that he didn't like Lucas. Oh and he was slowly forgetting his lying transgression. As far as he was concerned though, he had just been misleading Grace, not lying to her. And besides, even if he was lying, this was surely amazing proof that it only leads to hurt feelings. That's if he was lying though, which he wasn't.

It was then that the bedroom door opened again and Annabel walked out, still looking pretty upset as she walked over ot the couch. She just told Owen that she was ready to go.

"Great," he said, jumping up then. Anything to get out of that apartment. Anything.

"Whitney's pretty pissed," Annabel mumbled then, more to Lucas than Owen. "With me and Mom at least. I think she wants you to go in there."

"Great. Leave me to the wolves." Lucas tried to smile at Annabel again, but she wouldn't look at him then, instead just heading to the door. Shrugging, he headed off to the open bedroom door, taking one deep breath before bravely going in there to face the wrath of Whitney, the door shutting firmly behind him.

"That could have gone better," Owen muttered not soon after they were out of the apartment building. "I-"

"Let's just go, okay?"

Owen shrugged. "That's fine. Can we stop at-"

"I'd really just like to get home, Owen."

"Well, Cam lives real close to here and-"

"Fine, whatever," Annabel said, rubbing her hands up and down her crossed arms as the first flakes of the day fell to the frozen ground. "Just make it quick, okay?"

Nodding, he opened her car door when they got to it before rushing to get into the driver's side. "Will do."

True to his word, Cam only lived about twenty minutes away. Annabel figured as much though, as she had been to his aunt's house that once for Thanksgiving not too long ago and still remembered the general area pretty well.

"I'm waiting in the car," Annabel told Owen.

"It's cold."

She glanced at the house. "She doesn't like me."

He couldn't deny that one. "It's still cold out here."

"I don't care."

"I'll leave the car running," he said, the heat already on full blast. "I just need-"

"Whatever, Owen."

He gave her a sympathetic look that Annabel didn't quite understand, but he got out of the car just as quickly and her curiosity faded. Heading up to the house then, Owen really wished that he had worn gloves or something. Just from being outside for that short walk up the driveway had frozen his fingers.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

Owen just stared at his aunt after she opened the door. "Can you let me in or what? I'm freezing."

"I'm sure," she said, stepping aside to allow him entrance into the house. "It's quite the brutal winter. Especially for you, I would assume.

After kicking some snow off his boots, Owen headed into the house, shivering without meaning too. "Is Mallory here?"

"She is."

"Oh."

Cam just stared at him for a moment, frowning. "Don't tell me you drove all the way here just to ask that."

"No," he said, shaking his head. "Mom just hasn't been…"

"Hasn't been what?"

He wasn't sure, really, but knew she hadn't been doing a lot. Not for him at least. "She didn't tell me that Mallory was here. I haven't seen her in-"

"She's asleep right now, but-"

"I, uh, Annabel is in the car," Owen said, nodding towards the door. "I just-"

"Then tell her to come in."

"She doesn't want to."

"Is something a matter?"

Honesty and all made him say, "She thinks that you hate her."

"She's not far off."

He couldn't even muster up a glare. "Whatever. I-"

"I'm kidding." She pressed a hand against his arm, smiling. "Go see your sister. And I'll go talk to your girlfriend."

"Do not-"

"I'm fixing a problem before it arises," she told him. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"Haven't you ever heard of if it's not broken, don't fix it?"

"It might not be broken, but it's breaking."

"Yeah, 'cause of the way you treat her."

"I've only met her a few times."

"Yeah, I know."

She hit his arm then playfully. "I'll just go invite her inside. How's that?"

"She's already upset with me," Owen warned. "Don't make it worse."

"Believe me, I don't want to."

His aunt bounced slightly as she went off to get her coat and shoes. Owen just shook his head before heading of to the guest bedroom. As his aunt had said, his sister was in there. Only she wasn't asleep.

"Owen."

He wanted to smile for her, but he couldn't. The last time they had spoken, he had yelled at her. Screamed. Gotten super upset. Hurt her feelings. Hurt her. He had hurt her. He had hated her for that brief time period. It's not like he didn't realize that there was a good chance she wouldn't be around to hate for much longer. Because he did. And there was nothing he disliked more about himself than that he always managed to hurt the only people he cared about. Then again, that seemed to be the curse of many people, not just him.

"Hi," he finally got out, shutting the door softly behind him.

"What are you doing here?"

"What makes you think that I didn't just come here to see you?"

She stared at him. "You hate me."

"I don't hate you, Mal-"

"Why are you here?"

He sighed, going to pull the chair over by the desk up to her bed. "Annabel and her mother needed me to take them to her sister Whitney's apartment for-"

"Annabel's here?"

He nodded. "In the c-"

"Can you go get her? Please?"

"What about me?"

Mallory wouldn't look him in the eyes though. "Please?"

"In a minute." He frowned slightly. "I'm trying to tell you something."

"What?"

"That I'm…sorry, Mallory."

"Owen, I don't-"

"I am, alright? So you guys can come back home now."

"You-"

"You can. You can come back home and you can sleep in your own bed and be okay. And when you need someone to watch you, I can. Not Cam. I won't yell at you again. So come back. Please, come back."

She just stared at him for a moment. "Mom said-"

"I don't care what Mom says. You belong at home," he said, nodding his head. "It's not fair, Mallory."

"I didn't want to leave. She says that we have to give you space and-"

"No, you don't." He moved forward slightly, grabbing her hands in his. She felt really cold. He felt really cold. "I don't want space, Mallory. I want you, okay? So come home with me today."

"Owen, I can't-"

"Yes, you can. I'll take you home right now." He stroked the back of her hands with his thumbs. "Get your stuff. Or, uh, I'll get your stuff. What all do you have here?"

"Owen, Mom will-"

"I'm eighteen, Mallory. She's not my boss. She should have never tried to take you from home. You belong there. I help you with your makeup work, I stay with you when she's at the shop, I make your food when you're hungry. I love you, Mallory. You're my baby sister and you're going to come with me back home."

"I think that we should at least ask-"

"Do you wanna come home with me?"

She stared hard at him finally, looking into his eyes. "Yes."

"Good." He let go of her hands finally, letting out a breath. And just like that, he was okay again. What he had wanted for the day had been accomplished. "Good."

When he didn't move after a moment, she asked, "Are we going now?"

"If you want." He smiled slightly at her. "I'm glad to see your off your IV."

"I'm doing better, Owen."

He just shook his head, leaning back in his chair. "Yeah, I know."

"Is Annabel coming home with us?"

"I don't think so," he told her. "We're probably just taking her home."

"How come?"

"We're fighting again."

She frowned at him. "You're not a very good boyfriend."

"I am," he told her. "I'm just not a very good talker."

"You do it enough."

"Mal."

"Can you not fight with her when I'm there? I want to talk to her."

"You can have anything you want," Owen told her, his old Ipod the furthest thing from his mind. "Anything."

When they finally got out of the house, Owen had wrapped Mallory up in her coat and a blanket, knowing that it was freezing outside. If he was cold, she had to be ice. Even with her boots on though, Owen was afraid of her slipping on the ice on the ground and held tightly to one of her arms as they walked out to the car, her duffle bag in his other hand.

"I wish I could play in the snow," Mallory told him then, but Owen just shook his head.

"It's too cold. Besides, you have all winter."

"Yeah," she sighed. "I know."

But did she?

"What are you two doing?"

Owen frowned when he opened the back car door to load Mallory in only to find Annabel still in the passenger seat as he left her. The only thing that was odd was that Cam was behind steering wheel, relaxing as best she could in the driver's seat.

"Owen's taking my home," Mallory told her as he helped buckle her out. She batted his hands though.

"I'm not helpless," she complained, though she did let him adjust her blanket.

"You're doing what?" Cam sat up some then, frowning back at them. "Owen Armstrong, you-"

"She belongs at home."

"Your mother-"

"I don't care what Mom has to say about it." He sat the duffle bag on the other side of his sister. "At all."

"I am telling her that I tried to stop you," Cam threatened.

"Tell her whatever you want. I don't care."

Annabel glanced back there too, sitting up slightly. "Hi, Mal. I didn't know you were here."

She smiled brightly at the older girl. Owen knew that his sister idolized his girlfriend; he just wasn't completely comfortable with that fact yet.

"Here." Annabel unbuckled her seatbelt before getting out of the car. Then, going around it, she climbed into the other side of the backseat. "I'll ride back here with you."

Closing his sister's door, Owen went to go up the driver's side door. As he got to it though, Cam got out, closing the door behind her.

"Owen," she whispered to him, as not to be overheard in the car. "You need to be careful."

"Annabel isn't-"

"Not your girlfriend," she said, making a face at him. "With this. Your sister."

"I can do whatever I want."

"I know that Teresa's your mom, but you have to remember that she's Mallory's mother too. And Mallory is very sick right now. She doesn't want you around her."

"I-"

"I know what you did," she said, reaching out to pat his cold face. "And I know that you're sorry. I know you are. But you have to remember your mother is very…invested in Mallory currently. She's dying, little one. I know it hurts, but it's true. And you're messing with your mother's baby. You're her son, but you're not her baby anymore. Do not get her more upset with you than needs be."

He didn't know what to say to her, but that turned out to be okay as she just leaned up and pressed a kiss to his cheek, lingering for a moment before taking a step back. Smiling at her nephew, she then moved to rush off back to her house, the cold no doubt getting to her.

"Oh, and your girlfriend's fine," Camille called over her shoulder. "Next time she might even come in."

Owen just shook his head as he got into Annabel's car, not too concerned with Annabel anymore, not now that he had his sister back. Cam had made it sound like his mother hated him or something. And she didn't hate him.

…Did she?

* * *

**Finally, a quick update, right? But anyways, another writer for this fandom, Leia 96, asked me to get the word out to you guys about a short film she's making from the book Just Listen over the car wash scene. Only they need some funding to get that done. If you guys want to help out, visit indiegogo dot com/ projects/just-listen-a-short-film/x/1919571 (take out the spaces. Fanfic's weird about posting links straight out, 'cause of spam. And dot's a . of course) and you can donate there. The link is also on my profile and yes that is a shameless plug for you to visit my profile. Do it for Charmander dressed up as Charizard, 'cause he's so damn cute. Look at him. Or her. Whatever. **


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